Ryan Blaney lifts Ford to milestone 750th Cup Series win: ‘At the end of the day, they’re racers’

Posted on July 13, 2026July 13, 2026 by Staff Report

Ford Racing celebrated a major milestone in its NASCAR journey early Monday morning, when Ryan Blaney rolled to victory and clinched the manufacturer’s 750th Cup Series win.

Blaney’s dominant triumph in the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway marked the 19th win of his Cup Series career — all with Team Penske and all in Fords. The Roger Penske-owned organization has contributed 109 wins to the automaker’s Cup Series tally.

“Yes, it’s really special to be just a small part of that,” Blaney said. “They’ve been incredibly great to me over my career. Gosh, been with them since 2013 when Penske switched from Dodge. They’ve been great people. Really been able to get to know a lot of folks over there, whether it was the racing program or Ford Motor Company. (CEO) Jim Farley is a great leader. Mark Rushbrook (global director, Ford Racing) is fantastic on the Ford Racing side.

“It’s been fun to have success with those folks. At the end of the day, they’re racers. That’s what that company was built on. To be successful and to win for that and add to the success they’ve had in the Cup Series means a lot.”

Fords have been driven to 12 Cup Series championships, including Blaney’s 2023 title. That list began in 1965 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, who scored 43 of his 50 Cup Series wins driving Fords, making him the winningest of the 91 drivers who have posted Cup victories for the manufacturer.

That all-time list of Ford winners dates back to June 25, 1950, in just the second season for NASCAR’s top division. Ohio native Jimmy Florian drove a No. 27 Ford to a popular home-state victory at Dayton Speedway’s half-mile asphalt oval.

Florian drove shirtless that day because of the especially warm and muggy conditions. The primitive NASCAR Rule Book of the era had no formal uniform guidelines prohibiting him from doing so.

NASCAR Research & Archives Center | Getty Images

Posted on July 13, 2026 by Mike Hembree

HAMPTON, Ga. — You could fill a pretty sizable bus with guys who thought they had a shot at beating Ryan Blaney Sunday — sorry, make that Monday — in the Quaker State 400.

There was Chase Elliott. Christopher Bell. A late-charging Shane van Gisbergen, who was so sharp he might have thought he was road racing. Ty Gibbs. Bubba Wallace. And Carson Hocevar, who, with a win, would have completed a wacky, controversial weekend in an unlikely spotlight.

All pushed into or near first place at some point in the final stage, but the critical moments — and the final lap — were controlled by Blaney. With his bushy mustache arriving at the finish line perhaps before the rest of his body, the 32-year-old former Cup Series champion put on one of the finest performances of the season — and of his career — in winning for the second time this year.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In the sometimes frantic racing that colored the closing miles, with pretenders firing at him from every lane and every angle, even occasionally taking over the lead, Blaney never wilted. He had enough strength and presence of mind at the end to win by 0.068 seconds, leaving Wallace, Bell and Hocevar in a three-wide battle behind him. (After the race, Wallace was penalized for dropping below the double-yellow inside line while passing, sliding him to 29th place).

Elliott, Gibbs, Hocevar and others powered past Blaney’s Ford to take the lead at various junctures, but Blaney, in a car crew chief Jonathan Hassler called one of the best the team has built, bounced back to lead every time. He led 171 of the race’s 263 laps, almost matching an odd sort of record — laps led on a drafting-style track. Richard Petty led 184 laps in winning the 1964 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway when it was the only “drafting-style” track.

“He would take his medicine and make moves to get back to the front,” Hassler said of the scattered occasions when Blaney lost the lead.

Blaney said his car was “incredibly fast leading. I could defend moves without having to throw low-percentage blocks. Some moves at you are unbeatable as the leader. I let them go and thought I could develop a run to get them back.”

Blaney called that sort of work “managing the lanes.”

The only downside of Blaney’s accomplishment might be the fact that most of his younger fans probably were in deep slumber when he crossed the finish line at 1:45 a.m. ET. The 400 was such a long race that it started on one day and ended on another. He was still answering media questions about the win at 3 a.m.

Rain, rarely a friend to the race car driver or the race promoter, was expected Sunday night at EchoPark Speedway, and that expectation was met. A few minutes after the race was stopped after 108 laps because of lightning popping from nearby storm clouds, the rain arrived in great swaths, soaking the racing surface, pit road and any fans who had been slow to seek shelter.

It rained hard enough and long enough to force a three-hour, nine-minute delay.

Among the results — two different races on two different days. When green-flag racing resumed at 12:01 a.m. Monday, quite deep into the night, the super-fast track surface was a new animal, cooler and a somewhat different challenge, at least until the field put down enough laps to return it to something like normal.

Blaney beat the rain, the track changes, the tension that comes automatically with an overtime finish and even a late-race moment when his ride briefly threatened everything he had done. He bounced lightly off the wall with 30 laps to go, causing a vibration and accelerating heartbeats in the Team Penske pit.

It turned out that the only significant damage was to the hopes of the pretenders.

For Ford, burdened by a 15-race winless string, the racing both before and after midnight was a great salve to what has been a tough season. It also was a big boost for Blaney and his team, which has pushed through some pit-road issues and now is making a run at the No. 1 seed in The Chase.

On a rainy night in Georgia, he was Superman.

Posted on July 13, 2026July 13, 2026 by Dustin Albino

HAMPTON, Ga. – When the checkered flag finally flew over Sunday’s — and Monday’s — Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway, Bubba Wallace believed he had secured a runner-up finish. Instead, NASCAR assessed a post-race penalty for advancing his position below the yellow line on the final lap, dropping the No. 23 Toyota to the last car on the lead lap.

Wallace was credited with a 29th-place effort, a massive 27-point swing.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“[The rule] says advancing your position, which I did not do,” Wallace said to a group of media members after the penalty was issued. “I stayed third, and I was all over the brakes to make sure I did not advance. As soon as I turned, I was like, ‘I am going to wreck.’ I got on the brakes, kept it underneath me and still ended up side-by-side.

“That move should have propelled us to the lead, and it didn’t because I knew it was wrong because my car did not like that move. We will see what we can do, but I did not advance my position. I stayed third from the entry to three, all the way until 50 yards away, [Ty Gibbs] gave us a shot.”

Wallace took the white flag in third position and shoved Ryan Blaney to the race lead entering Turn 1. As the No. 12 car swung high on Carson Hocevar, the No. 23 Toyota darted to the bottom down the backstretch, making it three-wide for the top spot. In the process, he dropped below the yellow line and remained next to Hocevar and Blaney through Turns 3 and 4, when a shove from Christopher Bell propelled Blaney to the victory.

“You go back and look at the SMT; I’m on the brakes trying to keep it underneath me and not advance my position,” Wallace added. “We’ve seen that in the past, all day, two cars get side by side into the corner, the guy that pops bottom — clears. I didn’t clear, and that’s why we didn’t win the race, because I had to bail because I was going to crash. We will talk to the team to figure out what we want to do.”

Wallace bolted over to his 23XI Racing hauler to review the data with No. 23 crew chief Charles Denike and Dave Rogers, director of competition for 23XI Racing. After briefly evaluating their case, the trio walked to the NASCAR hauler for a 31-minute meeting with NASCAR officials.

Case closed.

It was deemed official that Wallace violated Sections 8.7.2.A of the NASCAR Rule Book. The rule states, “Passing below the double painted lines to advance position will result in a black flag.”

“A penalty is a penalty,” Wallace said as he departed the series hauler.

MORE: Watch wild final lap at EchoPark | Recap Blaney’s win

The final-lap penalty cost Wallace 27 points alone. Add in the points he lost at the end of Stage 2, when Gibbs bumped him out of sixth coming to the green-white-checkered finish, and it made for a costly race, tallying a mere nine points despite racing at the front for the bulk of the evening, including 11 circuits ahead of the field.

After the race, Wallace and Gibbs met on pit road.

“I just said lift,” Wallace noted after having a post-race discussion with his Toyota quasi-teammate. “I said there’s an opportunity to give, and you didn’t. He was like, ‘Well, don’t block me.’ It’s like, bro, you hit me square in the bumper. The block was well ahead; you seen it coming.”

On the final lap, it was a shove from Gibbs that propelled Wallace into the runner-up spot before the penalty was assessed. Gibbs went over to apologize for the Stage 2 mishap but didn’t enjoy the interaction.

“I went to tell him sorry because he cleared himself and then, unfortunately, he showed a lot of disrespect,” Gibbs stated. “It seems like it didn’t work out for him. I tried to help him out there at the end and push him to win.”

With the 29th-place showing, Wallace has finished outside the top 20 in six of the last nine events. He remains 13th in the regular-season standings, 55 points above the cutline. He lost 22 points to The Chase cutline at EchoPark.

“Everyone behind us in points is like, ‘Oh, 23,’ “Wallace said. “They see that and are licking their chops. With the position that we are in, we’re not safe.”

Posted on July 12, 2026July 13, 2026 by Staff Report

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway resumed after a weather delay that triggered on Lap 109 of the 260-lapper at the 1.5-mile drafting track.

Engines re-fired at 11:37 p.m. ET — ending a delay that extended just over three hours.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Ryan Blaney led the field back on track after the lengthy pause.

The No. 12 Team Penske driver has dominated the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart so far, winning Stage 1 and leading 86 laps before the red flag came out.

Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott sat inside the top five when cars rolled off pit road, while Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano and Ty Gibbs complete the top 10 with 52 laps to go in Stage 2.

Sunday’s race at EchoPark marks the quarterfinal round in the second annual In-Season Challenge. The matchups are Alex Bowman vs. Todd Gilliland, Chase Briscoe vs. Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin vs. Christopher Bell and William Byron vs. Ryan Blaney.

Posted on July 12, 2026July 13, 2026 by Holly Cain

HAMPTON, Ga. — Ryan Blaney led a dominating 171 of 263 laps to claim the trophy in overtime in Sunday-night-turned-Monday-morning’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway.

As impressive as the big number of laps led is the night-long extra effort Blaney turned in to mark his second win of the season and first since Phoenix in March. The 32-year-old North Carolinian made the winning pass on the last lap in what had been a dramatic lap-by-lap night-long battle up front, showcasing — and necessitating — some of the 2023 series champion’s best work.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

His laps-led total on the 1.5-mile Atlanta high-banks is the most for a race winner at a drafting track since Richard Petty led 184 of 200 laps in his 1964 Daytona 500 victory.

Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford got the race-winning nudge forward on the last lap of overtime by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, whose No. 20 Toyota ultimately crossed the finish line three-wide alongside 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar. Hocevar was leading when the field took the white flag.

Wallace was later penalized for being out of bounds, dropping below the track’s yellow line at one point as he corrected his car on that final overtime restart, battling Hocevar for position. The adjusted top-five with the penalty then placed Bell second to Blaney by 0.068 seconds — the JGR Toyota driver’s fifth top-five in the last eight races. Hocevar was scored third, followed by the Toyotas of JGR’s Ty Gibbs and Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones.

“Pretty wild,’’ said a smiling Blaney, who started on the pole and swept the stages.

“Bubba gave me really good shoves on the restart. We got hooked up really good and then Bubba and I got a huge run down the front straightaway and I was able to get to the outside of Carson. Wasn’t able to clear him [then]. And then Bubba went three-wide bottom down the back, which lined up for a really cool finish at the line.

“I really have to shout out Christopher Bell being right on my bumper through [Turns] 3 and 4 and a big push. He was a big reason why we won the race, so I appreciate that, Christopher.”

It was an adventurous victory for Blaney, who faced challenges every lap and was forced to re-establish his position out front even after a more than three-hour red flag for weather at Lap 109 and the changing weather conditions.

Blaney has now earned Ford Motor Company’s last six NASCAR Cup Series wins, and it marks a significant 750th victory for Ford Motor Company.

Despite the impressive race statistics, it took hard work and unrelenting spirit to pull off this second victory of the season. Hocevar ran among the frontrunners for much of the night and was a serious threat to win. The 23-year-old driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet earned his first career win in April at the series’ previous drafting track stop – Talladega Superspeedway. And he came into the race full of confidence and vigor.

Hocevar was so optimistic about his chances that he joked with his team on the radio during the final restarts, even singing into the radio just before the overtime green flag flew. He said he was part disappointed and part encouraged with the third-place finish.

SHOP: Race winner gear

“Is there a song for loser, we didn’t win,’’ Hocevar joked after the race. “I don’t know; I’m super happy with our day. I’m sitting there hanging around, looking at the fans, sitting about for the first part of Stage 3. Then, all of a sudden with about 12 laps [remaining], we were up front and in contention to win

“It’s fun. Zero nerves up front,’’ he added with a grin.

It was also an impressive night for Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen, the series’ road course ace, finishing sixth for his third top-10 showing on an oval this season.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon was seventh, followed by the season’s five-time race winner Tyler Reddick, who won at EchoPark in February. Blaney’s Penske teammate, three-time series champ Joey Logano, was ninth, scoring his sixth top-10 of the season. RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher was 10th.

The night had a big effect on the $1 million-to-win In-Season Challenge, with Bell’s runner-up showing bettering his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin’s 12th-place showing to advance to next week’s semifinal round. He’ll join Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who finished 13th, out-dueling JGR’s Chase Briscoe, who finished 36th after being collected in a crash.

Blaney’s win advances him past Hendrick’s William Byron, who finished 16th. And Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland advances with a 19th-place effort, bettering Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, who finished 22nd.

The night also had major implications in the championship standings, now with only six races remaining to set the 16-driver field that will compete in the Chase.

Hamlin retains the championship points lead, however, Reddick cut the margin nearly in half at EchoPark with strong stage showings in addition to his top-10. He now trails his 23XI Racing team co-owner by 24 points. Blaney’s victory also moved him into Regular Season Championship talk, cutting what was once a 100-plus-point deficit to now only 65 points.

Jones’ finish kept him ranked 16th, but Logano’s effort moved him up a position in the standings, and he now trails Jones by only eight points. RFK’s Ryan Preece is ranked 18th, 26 points off Jones.

The NASCAR Cup Series next makes a nostalgic return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for Sunday’s Window World 450 (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro in 2025. The last regular-season race at the historic track was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon in 1996.

Stage 2 recap

Ryan Blaney won Stage 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway after a delay of more than three hours due to inclement weather.

Reddick finished second, followed by Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and Daniel Suárez. Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen.

MORE: Full Stage 2 results

The first lead change of the evening came during the Stage 1 caution, as Tyler Reddick — the EchoPark springtime winner — exited pit road first. But that didn’t last long. Kyle Larson and Blaney each took turns leading early in the second frame, before Carson Hocevar rocketed past both at Lap 83 for his first lead of the night.

Hocevar led the next 12 circuits as intensity picked up, with inclement weather potentially threatening. Blaney returned to the top spot at Lap 95 with Bubba Wallace right behind him, and led until weather hit the Atlanta-area facility at Lap 108.

The race was paused until 11:37 p.m. ET, and the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart returned to green-flag conditions at 12:01 a.m. ET after a pit cycle.

But the long delay didn’t deter the No. 12 Team Penske driver. Aggression level clearly picked up after the stoppage, but Blaney successfully defended every threat to pace every lap during the green-flag stint.

Coming to the green-and-white checkered flag, Wallace went spinning after contact from Ty Gibbs exiting Turn 4. Wallace was battling for fourth and challenged Blaney throughout the segment for the race lead.

Stage 1 recap

Ryan Blaney earned a wire-to-wire Stage 1 victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway. The pole starter led all 60 laps in the opening frame, fending off Tyler Reddick — who started outside the top 30 — in the closing circuits.

Reddick held on for second, followed by Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10 and early points earners.

MORE: Full Stage 1 results

In the opening moments, Brad Keselowski got loose in Turns 3 and 4 and brushed the wall, plummeting back through the field and eventually falling a lap down.

After just 10 laps, Team Penske ran 1-2-3 with Blaney pacing Logano and Cindric, who started eighth. They, along with Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson, broke ahead from the rest of the field. By Lap 26, Spire Motorsports’ Hocevar climbed from a 14th-place starting position up to third, briefly breaking up the blue oval brigade for the first time.

But as the opening stage reached the halfway mark, the field retightened as drivers gained feel for their cars. There was no practice for Sunday’s race, so the opening stint of the 260-lapper was the first time all weekend that teams worked together in the Peach State draft.

Stage 1 was completed without a caution.

Note: Inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Blaney as the EchoPark winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on July 12, 2026July 13, 2026 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series head to EchoPark Speedway this weekend, while the Craftsman Truck Series once again heads north to take on Lime Rock Park. Bookmark this page for everything you need throughout the race weekend — including qualifying orders, practice speeds, race results and more.

RELATED: Full weekend schedule | TV listings

NASCAR Cup Series

Race day: Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on TNT Sports. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Nine sets for the weekend (eight new sets for the race, one set for qualifying that transfers to the race).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Starting Lineup
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Race day: Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on The CW. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Four sets for the weekend (three new sets for the race, one set for qualifying that transfers to the race).

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Starting Lineup
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Race day: Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on FS1. The categories listed below will be filled out with links as the information becomes available.

Tires: Five dry-weather sets for the weekend (three new sets for the race, one set for qualifying that transfers to the race, and one set for practice). Teams will also have four wet-weather sets available.

Entry List
Qualifying Order
Practice Results
Practice Lap Averages
Practice Lap Times
Starting Lineup
Pit Stalls
Stage 1 Results
Stage 2 Results
Race Results

Posted on July 12, 2026July 12, 2026 by Zack Albert

LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Landen Lewis’ best finish of his still-budding NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career came with a significant detour midway through. Re-routing proved successful.

Lewis’ No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet wound up facing the wrong way when a Stage 2 restart on Lime Rock Park’s long main straight bogged down the front of the pack, creating a maelstrom of trucks in the wake. “Sorry, guys,” Lewis told his crew on the radio as he righted his truck, but after a sizable rally, the 20-year-old driver had little reason to apologize.

Lewis came home with a career-best second place in Saturday’s LiUNA 150, which marked just his seventh Truck Series start. Lewis also notched his second consecutive top-five run in his partial schedule with the Niece group, backing up his solid fourth-place effort from Naval Base Coronado near San Diego.

There was elation from Lewis as he spoke from the back of the No. 45 hauler, but also the bittersweet feeling of finishing just 0.483 seconds behind race winner Grant Enfinger in a bid for his first career Truck Series win. But it also marked another step toward putting him more squarely on NASCAR’s national-series radar.

“Definitely mixed emotions, for sure, getting spun out and just all these different things going on,” Lewis told NASCAR.com. “But like I told my guys, we’re gonna keep fighting till the very end. I think we had 30-something laps to go, so plenty of time to get back to the front, and we all rallied together. Just so proud to be a part of this group.”

Lewis started sixth in Saturday’s 100-lap show, and he worked his way to third place by the end of the first stage — right behind early dominators Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt, the front-runners in the Craftsman Truck Series standings. He was in the same position when the yellow flag flew for Ty Majeski’s Turn 1 crash at the midpoint of Stage 2.

Jaiden Tripi | Getty Images

Lewis was in the inside lane behind Riggs’ No. 34 Ford for the next restart, where bedlam broke out. The Niece No. 45 was one of four trucks involved, but a quick assessment showed the damage to be tolerable — steering-wheel alignment still straight, new tires needed, and a patched-up hole on the truck’s nose.

That’s when veteran crew chief Phil Gould pivoted on strategy, saying he had no choice but to flip the stage and skip the trip to pit road in the approaching break. Staying out when other contenders pitted placed Lewis in the seventh spot for the start of the final stage, in front of both Riggs and Honeycutt and in position to make up late-race ground on slightly older tires.

“Keeping pace with the 34 (Riggs) and the 11 (Honeycutt), I’d like to have run the whole race straight up,” Gould told NASCAR.com. “I think with one more adjustment, we might’ve had something for them.”

Lewis’ Truck Series opportunity comes after a championship march last season in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Series. While that short-track bullring background might not seem to mesh with the challenges presented by Lime Rock’s twisty layout, Lewis’ versatility primed him for a fast-paced romp through the Connecticut countryside.

MORE: Craftsman Truck Series schedule

Lewis has also excelled in karting, dirt modifieds, Legend Cars and ARCA’s regional tours on his way up the motorsports ladder. He’s also learned from working with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. as a mentor, and the youngster also has the backing of Kevin Harvick’s agency in his corner. The support system and his raw talent were part of why Niece signed him last October as one of the team’s “anchor drivers” with a part-time schedule for 2026.

“I mean, his talent is high-level, right?” Gould said. “I think he’s an A-level driver. He has a lot of experience in different disciplines, so I think the road-course stuff kind of played into his hands. And I think three of his first four races have been road courses. So, we get to go short-track oval racing in the next couple weeks, and I know he’s excited about that.”

Lewis does so carrying a head of steam into the final stretch of the Truck Series’ regular season.

“Obviously, just a huge amount of confidence with my truck and my team,” Lewis said. “I feel like it’s not just me; it’s all of us together. We have a lot of confidence and momentum building, so just want to continue to build that and not go backward.”

Posted on July 12, 2026July 12, 2026 by Dustin Albino

HAMPTON, Ga. — Ford has spent much of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season searching for answers, as its 10 full-time drivers have combined for a single points-paying victory through five months. Yet with seven races remaining before the postseason, former series champions Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski still control their own Chase fate.

The spring and early summer months haven’t treated the former Team Penske teammates kindly. Logano has hovered around The Chase cutline for the bulk of the regular season, rising no higher than 12th in the standings since the eighth race of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway. Keselowski has had a string of races to forget, with his last top 10 a distant memory, dating back to Kansas Speedway. Rewinding to Watkins Glen International in early May, the No. 6 team hasn’t finished better than 15th in the last eight events.

Yet both drivers still have a fighting chance to make The Chase, with Logano ranked 18th in the standings, 16 points below bubble driver Erik Jones. Keselowski has plummeted to 20th in points, 19 points to the bad.

“I’m the type of person who likes to point the finger at themselves and think what could I have done better?” Keselowski said on Saturday at EchoPark Speedway. “You are looking at those moments and the things that just happen are life. There’s been a little bit of both.”

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

Opportunity looms for both future Hall of Famers. They are arguably the best superspeedway drivers of their generation, with Keselowski leading active drivers with seven victories. Logano has won two of the last seven races at the reconfigured EchoPark 1.5-miler and is on a short list of three active drivers — along with Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and William Byron — to score multiple victories at the Atlanta venue.

Add in the fact that few organizations have enjoyed as much success on NASCAR’s short tracks in the Next Gen era as Team Penske. That trend could work in Logano’s favor as the regular season enters its final stretch of races.

“I feel good about the tracks coming our way,” Logano stated. “The short tracks coming up, too — the speedways are one thing, but look at [North] Wilkesboro, Richmond [Raceway], [New Hampshire Motor Speedway] — all of them are tracks we typically excel at.

“I think we’ve made good gains on some of the mile-and-a-halves stuff. I know last week, the first two stages were ugly, but we hit on it eventually and started rolling the last run really well. I wish we had that earlier in the race, but there are definitely signs of light, which I can’t say we’ve had that here recently. We just have to execute through these next few weeks really well and make sure we maximize it.”

Before the Cup Series resets at Darlington Raceway to begin The Chase, the schedule features four races on tracks measuring 1 mile or less, beginning next weekend at North Wilkesboro. Logano has been particularly dominant at the historic venue, leading 199 of 200 laps to win the 2024 All-Star Race and collect the $1 million prize. He backed up that performance last season by leading another 139 laps before finishing runner-up to Christopher Bell.

In the not-too-distant future, there are battles at Iowa Speedway, Richmond and New Hampshire, all tracks favorable to the Ford camp.

“I don’t think they are make-or-breaks, but when you have opportunities at tracks like that where you typically run well, you have to make sure you capitalize on the opportunities that are sitting there,” Logano added.

The No. 6 team remains optimistic, too. While Keselowski has lost 11 positions in the standings over the last seven races — highlighted by four consecutive finishes of 34th or worse — he knows RFK Racing can excel on short tracks. Ryan Preece, another driver fighting for a Chase berth, won the season-opening exhibition Busch Light Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. And with a pair of drafting tracks on the horizon — Sunday evening at EchoPark and the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway — the 2012 champion has six runner-up finishes at drafting tracks since last reaching the Winner’s Circle in the draft at Talladega Superspeedway in 2021.

“We feel really good about a number of the tracks coming up,” Keselowski said. “We’ve had a not-so-great last four or five weeks. I felt like we got out of Sonoma with a decent race and had high expectations for Chicago, and fell flat. That was really disappointing.

“We will see what we have this weekend; we have high expectations for here. There’s not a track in front of us that I don’t feel we can run well at, which is good. But it’s on us to go do that and earn our way into the NASCAR Chase.”

First up is the new Atlanta, where Logano leads the league with 359 laps led in nine starts since the 2022 reconfig and will start alongside Penske teammate Ryan Blaney on the front row. Two of Keselowski’s six second-place efforts on superspeedways in the last five seasons have come at the action-packed circuit.

Posted on July 11, 2026July 12, 2026 by Mike Hembree

HAMPTON, Ga. – It was a night when pretenders became contenders, enough car parts flew through the air to fill a junkyard and several of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series non-winners threatened to eliminate the “non” from their resumes.

In the end – and it seemed the end might not come before Saturday turned to Sunday – series veteran Justin Allgaier slipped through the late-race chaos to win the Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway, shutting out promising runs by Carson Kvapil, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg, Nick Sanchez and a chorus of other drivers who got a passing glimpse of Victory Lane.

Kvapil had the best shot at scoring a career-first victory. He led 29 laps and was a key player in the late-race mix of incredibly tight competition and the string of wrecks that made the closing miles brim with anxiety.

The final restart with two overtime laps to go was disrupted when Sieg, battling at the front for his first win in 421 series starts, ran out of gas as the green flag flew, and his slowing car rattled the packed drafting lines and made the finish a free-for-all between the charging Allgaier, Kvapil and Parker Retzlaff.

Kvapil lost to his JR Motorsports teammate by 0.139 seconds.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“I felt like we were the fastest car,” Kvapil said. “Everyone on this team brought an absolute rocketship. I mean it was unbelievably fast and had good handling, too. We could make moves, and it just did everything right.

“I thought, man, just what could go wrong, right? I feel like we pretty much had it in the bag with all the cars around us. They weren’t at the speed that I thought we were.

“I thought as soon as we got all cleared off Turn 2 and then Turn 4 that we were going to be in good shape, but when the 39 ran out of gas there on the restart, it just really screwed us, honestly kind of took us out of the race.”

The wild nature of the final stage repeatedly put surprise drivers near the front. The longest green-flag run in the third stage was seven laps, and the sometimes ferocious racing at the front was interrupted by seven cautions. The stop-and-go racing cut into the strength of Kvapil’s car, which was strong on long runs.

“I felt like we had the best car tonight,” said Rodney Childers, Kvapil’s crew chief. “Carson did a great job, and we’ve had great cars over the last month. Everybody’s clicking and we’re doing the right things. Hopefully, we can continue that and get Carson into Victory Lane before long.”

The runner-up finish was Kvapil’s fifth and his third finish of sixth or better in the past four races.

Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a quick chat with Kvapil on pit road after the race. Kvapil has rotated in and out of the car No. 1’s driver seat this year but will be in the car the rest of the season.

“Tonight there was not much he could have changed about what happened,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was out of his control. His help was dissipating on the restart. I would say to him in these moments, you have to look at what you’re in control of and did you do a good job. He did all the things besides winning the race that you need to do.

“We had a great points night. Now he’s in this car from here on out, and he can truly build on that momentum with Rodney.”

Posted on July 11, 2026July 12, 2026 by Holly Cain

HAMPTON, Ga. — After a nearly four-hour race that ended in double overtime, a familiar name hoisted the trophy as NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader Justin Allgaier made a last-lap pass to claim his sixth win of the season in Saturday night’s Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway.

Just after taking the white flag, signaling one lap remaining, race leader Brennan Poole and defending race winner Nick Sanchez collided during a frantic final charge to the checkered flag. As their cars hit the outside wall at the 1.5-mile track, Allgaier drove underneath in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, with teammate Carson Kvapil giving chase in pursuit of his first career win.

But the 2024 series champion was too good at just the right time, holding off Kvapil by 0.139 seconds to secure a career-high sixth win of the season and clinch the 2026 regular-season championship.

The result also moved JR Motorsports within one top-10 finish of tying the record of 79 consecutive races with at least one team car finishing in the top 10. Roush Fenway Keselowski currently holds the mark.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“This team, I’m so proud of everyone here at JR Motorsports,’’ a rather emotional Allgaier said immediately after the checkered flag. “Great Chevrolets today. I knew at the end, there would be some guys close on fuel. You just never give up … That’s what this team is all about.”

All the storylines provided a fitting ending to a long, thrilling night of competition that included a track-record 13 caution flags and four red flags — accounting for nearly half an hour of stoppage. There were 11 different leaders and 19 lead changes, including nine over the final 70 laps of the 172-lap race.

Five cautions, two of which led to red flags, over the final 11 laps defined the stop-and-go ending, which featured no sustained green-flag run. A huge 11-car accident near the front on a restart with 11 laps remaining in regulation eliminated some of the evening’s strongest cars, including Allgaier’s teammate Sammy Smith, who led a race-high 34 laps in the No. 8 JRM Chevrolet, and reigning series champion Jesse Love in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

“Definitely disappointing,’’ Love said, adding, “It was going to be a tough mountain to climb with all the JRM cars doing a really fabulous job working together so it was going to be tough.

“I could hear my amazing spotter’s voice that we were going to tear some stuff up and we sure did.

“Overall, honestly not a terrible points day, we got some good stage points, so try to do our best Tony Stewart in the Chase and win some races,’’ he added of NASCAR Hall of Famer Stewart’s amazing five-win run in the playoffs to win the 2011 championship despite being winless in the regular season.

“We’ve got some really good speed and our team is clicking really well,’’ Love said. “Shame what happened tonight, but you’re going to land on that side of it sometimes on this style of race tracks.’’

Love’s RCR teammate Austin Hill, a five-time Atlanta winner, also appeared headed for a strong finish as he moved forward amid the crashes. The Georgia native was making a run at the trophy with three laps remaining in regulation when he was involved in a seven-car melee that brought out the final red flag and eliminated another group of contenders, including JR Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, who led 18 laps and ran among the top five throughout the night.

In the end, Viking Motorsports teammates Parker Retzlaff and Anthony Alfredo, along with Joe Gibbs Racing’s William Sawalich, survived the action-packed closing laps to complete the top five.

Garrett Smithley, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg, Caruth and Jeremy Clements rounded out the top 10.

The race significantly affected the standings with only three races remaining before the 12-driver championship field is set. Allgaier extended his lead to 240 points over Love, who remains winless.

Around the cutline, Brent Crews and Taylor Gray — both eliminated in crashes — sit 11th and 12th. Gray holds a 17-point advantage over Caruth and a 21-point edge over William Sawalich as the series heads into a rare off weekend.

Teams return to action Saturday, July 25 with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (4 p.m. ET, The CW, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Connor Zilisch is the most recent race winner at the Brickyard.

NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed without issue in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series garage, confirming Justin Allgaier as the winner.