Posted on by Staff Report

As the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16 comes to a close, 14 drivers who haven’t yet locked up a spot in the Round of 12 will look to do so during Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (6:30 ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Three former Cup Series champions —  Joey Logano (2018, 2022), Kevin Harvick (2014) and Martin Truex Jr. (2017) — are in close proximity to the elimination line and all three may not advance out of the opening round.

RELATED: Cup Series Playoffs standings | Bristol weekend schedule

Logano leads the trio, sitting at 12 points above the elimination line and in the 11th position in the standings. Harvick is five points behind the No. 22 Team Penske Ford (+7) and 12th on the Playoffs grid.

Truex, meanwhile, stands on thin ice. After an 18th-place finish at Darlington Raceway and a last-place result at Kansas Speedway (due to a wreck), he is the first driver below the elimination line and seven points behind Harvick.

And so, the battleground for three past champions will be none other than the 0.533-mile short track that is Bristol, which has shown to be a tough challenge for many a driver. This challenge could become apparent on Saturday, where even the slightest hiccup could be the difference in one or more of these three past champions failing to advance.

The information below, courtesy of Racing Insights, details the trio’s overall numbers at Bristol during playoff races:

DriverPoints per raceTotal pointsAverage finish
Kevin Harvick43.31304.3
Joey Logano23.77116.3
Martin Truex Jr.15.74722.3
Posted on by Staff Report

The Round of 16 finale in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here, with the field slated to run in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday (6:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick already clinched their Round of 12 bids with thrilling victories at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway, respectively.

Denny Hamlin sits atop the field among playoff drivers to not yet win a race, with the No. 11 sitting 49 points clear of the elimination line.

MORE: Current Cup playoff standings | Weekend schedule: Bristol

Already clinched

The following drivers have clinched a spot in the 12-driver field of the next round: Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick.

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 11th winless driver in the standings. The same point requirements listed below would hold true if a new win comes from among Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano or Kevin Harvick.

— Denny Hamlin: Would clinch with 7 points
— William Byron: Would clinch with 15 points
— Brad Keselowski: Would clinch with 23 points
— Ryan Blaney: Would clinch with 31 points
— Kyle Busch: Would clinch with 32 points
— Ross Chastain: Would clinch with 38 points
— Chris Buescher: Would clinch with 43 points
— Christopher Bell: Would clinch with 43 points
— Joey Logano: Would clinch with 44 points
— Kevin Harvick: Would clinch with 49 points
— Martin Truex Jr.: Could only clinch with help
— Bubba Wallace: Could only clinch with help
— Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Could only clinch with help
— Michael McDowell: Could only clinch with help

If there is a new winner from Martin Truex Jr. 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 10th winless driver in the standings.

— Denny Hamlin: Would clinch with 12 points
— William Byron: Would clinch with 21 points
— Brad Keselowski: Would clinch with 29 points
— Ryan Blaney: Would clinch with 37 points
— Kyle Busch: Would clinch with 38 points
— Ross Chastain: Would clinch with 44 points
— Chris Buescher: Would clinch with 49 points
— Christopher Bell: Would clinch with 49 points
— Joey Logano: Would clinch with 50 points
— Kevin Harvick: Would clinch with 55 points
— Martin Truex Jr.: Could only clinch with help
— Bubba Wallace: Could only clinch with help
— Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Could only clinch with help
— Michael McDowell: Could only clinch with help

Can clinch via win

The following drivers would clinch on their win alone:

— Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell

Posted on by Brandon White

The shared mindset between NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Justin Bonsignore and car owner Ken Massa was clear after a bad crash at New York’s Oswego Speedway a couple weeks ago caused them to lose significant ground to Ron Silk in the championship standings.

“Let’s win them all,” Bonsignore jokingly told Massa during a meeting last week.

Nursing a broken thumb from the Oswego crash, Bonsignore a few days after stating that goal was stoic and composed as he put together his most efficient performance of 2023 to date. He led all 150 laps from the pole at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Speedway on Saturday to take his fifth victory at the track.

A bad night from Silk allowed Bonsignore to erase most of his lost ground from Oswego. Now within striking distance of his fourth Modified Tour title, Bonsignore finds himself further invigorated to win the last four races of 2023, starting with Saturday’s Eddie Partridge 256 at Riverhead Raceway (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing).

“We did go into Monadnock with some confidence,” Bonsingore said. “We’ve always run well there in the past, and obviously it went better than we could have expected. Fortunately for us, Ron had some bad luck. Even though you never want to see anyone have bad luck, if there was a week we needed it, that was the one.”

Modified Tour at Riverhead: Entry list | How to watch

The first two races on the calendar after Oswego, Monadnock and Riverhead, immediately inspired confidence in Bonsignore and the rest of the No. 51 Ken Massa Motorsports operation.

Although Bonsignore admittedly struggles at tracks where significant tire wear is a factor, he has always felt comfortable navigating Monadnock’s abrasive quarter-mile layout. The long-run setup put together by crew chief Ryan Stone allowed Bonsignore to cruise comfortably through slower traffic during the final 125 laps of green-flag racing.

Bonsignore hopes his car is just as perfect when he takes the green flag Saturday night at Riverhead, a track where he has 10 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victories to his name.

The third event at Riverhead of the season has quickly become one of Bonsignore’s favorites on the schedule with the race honoring late track co-owner Eddie Partridge — and its inclusion of live pit stops. Bonsignore cherishes races where his pit crew can directly help him win, adding that a stellar stop will be essential for great track position at the end of Saturday’s race.

“Riverhead is typically a race where you’re saving tires as much as you can to make sure you have enough for the end,” Bonsignore said. “With this race, you can run considerably hard knowing you’re going to pit around Lap 175. After that, it becomes a sprint race, so it opens some possibilities.”

Justin Bonsignore looks to stay in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title fight by earning his 11th victory at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday. (Photo: Armond Feffer/NASCAR)

A victory for Bonsignore in the Eddie Partridge 256 would be crucial toward staying even with Silk as they endure three tough tracks to close out 2023.

Immediately following Riverhead is the Modified Tour’s inaugural trip to North Wilkesboro Speedway. Bonsignore has never turned a lap on the track’s old, abrasive surface, which will put extra emphasis on aggressively conserving tires to contend for the win.

Closing out the year at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and Martinsville Speedway provides Bonsignore mixed levels of optimism. He will be going for his 14th series victory at Thompson in October but has yet to win at Martinsville despite a pair of top-three finishes.

Having won the Tour championship three times before, Bonsignore finds himself in a familiar situation. He knows he can control his own destiny by maintaining solid speed and minimizing mistakes.

“We just need to have great cars and make smart decisions,” Bonsignore said. “It’s obviously not going to be easy, because Ron has been fast everywhere this year. There are other guys that will be in contention like [Austin] Beers. More than anything, you have to know what you’re racing, but if you’re in a position to win the race, you have to take advantage of that if you can.”

Justin Bonsignore will have to battle 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk in order to secure his fourth title. (Photo: NASCAR)

The margin of error for Bonsignore during the final stretch of races will be small as he attempts to overtake Silk and assume control of the point standings.

Oswego was the first race Bonsignore failed to finish in 2023, a stark contrast from the previous year in which he finished worse than 25th in two of the first three races. After grinding his way back into the title fight, two consecutive finishes outside the top 10 to end the year made Bonsignore’s heroic effort fruitless.

Consistency has put Bonsignore in a more favorable position this year, but he does not expect Silk to pull any punches. He has commended the clean battles with Silk throughout 2023 and would love to defeat him so he can further cement himself as one of the greatest drivers in the history of the series.

“Anytime you can contend for the championship is cool, because these aren’t easy championships to be in contention for,” Bonsignore said. “A fourth championship would be another step closer to the goal of getting to Doug [Coby] or [Mike] Stefanik’s record.

“Before you get to seven, you have to get to four. That’s the goal this year.”

Should he pull off the improbable feat of running the table through Martinsville, Bonsignore will be tied for second in the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins list alongside Reggie Ruggiero with 44 victories.

Bonsignore looks to keep the momentum going from Monadnock in the Eddie Partridge 256 on Saturday by earning his 11th victory at Riverhead, which would tie Mike Ewanitsko’s series record at the track.

Posted on by Staff Report

Trackhouse Racing announced that it has signed Shane van Gisbergen for the 2024 season and that he will compete in a combination of NASCAR’s three national series. The team has agreed to build a program that will put the 34-year-old Auckland, New Zealand, native in select races in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, plus some late model and other races.

RELATED: Key players in 2023-24 Silly Season

“This announcement means so many things to me,” Van Gisbergen said in a team release. “I’m proud of what I have achieved here in Australia, but I’m excited by this new chapter in my career and the opportunities that it brings.”

The deal strengthens the ties that the driver has with the Justin Marks-founded organization, which brought him stateside with its Project 91 initiative this season. That endeavor, designed to showcase global motorsports stars, ended up with a dazzling debut for the driver known as “SVG,” who won in his first Cup Series start in the inaugural Chicago Street Race.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Off to 🇺🇸 next year. Huge opportunity for me and so thankful to <a href=”https://twitter.com/JustinMarksTH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@JustinMarksTH</a> and the <a href=”https://twitter.com/TeamTrackhouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@TeamTrackhouse</a> family for giving me a shot in NASCAR. Can’t wait to get over there 😀 <a href=”https://t.co/Q08csXQNBg”>pic.twitter.com/Q08csXQNBg</a></p>&mdash; Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) <a href=”https://twitter.com/shanevg97/status/1702125397620715858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 14, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Van Gisbergen is a three-time champion in the Supercars tour. His Triple Eight Race Engineering team, which competes under the Red Bull Ampol Racing brand, indicated it would not stand in the way of his NASCAR aspirations and granted his release from his contract.

Van Gisbergen has made one additional Cup Series appearance since his Chicago win, placing 10th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last month. That finish came two days after van Gisbergen’s first oval-track start when he ran 19th in a Niece Motorsports entry at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Marks indicated that van Gisbergen’s 2024 racing schedule will be tailored to provide him a variety of NASCAR experience.

“This is going to be a tremendous challenge for Shane but he is a tremendous driver as we have all seen,” Marks said in the release. “Next year will be about getting him acclimated to oval-track racing, superspeedways, 1.5-mile tracks and everything he has never experienced in his career. It’s obviously going to be a learning process, but we think Shane will perform quite well.”

Trackhouse’s Project 91 has made four Cup Series starts since its inception in 2022 – two with van Gisbergen and the first two with former Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

As NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers enter the second playoff elimination round, the Championship 4 race couldn’t be much tighter.

Corey Heim tops the Playoffs standings, but he’s only 24 points ahead of eighth-place Nick Sanchez entering Thursday’s UNOH 200 Presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Current Truck Series Playoffs standings

Interestingly, Heim leads the standings without posting a victory in the Round of 10. Ty Majeski won at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Grant Enfinger took the checkered flag at the Milwaukee Mile and Christian Eckes triumphed in dramatic fashion at Kansas Speedway.

“It’s exciting, but you know at the same time the job is not finished,” Eckes said during an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I came here to win a championship, and that’s what I want to do. So, we have a lot more work to do to get there, but the job’s not finished.”

In two career Truck starts at Bristol, Eckes has two top-12 finishes, including an eighth-place finish at the short track in 2022. Enfinger, on the other hand, has a more extensive and thoroughly impressive record at Thunder Valley. In six career starts at the 0.533-mile high-banked short track, Enfinger has never finished outside the top 10. He boasts a best result of second in 2021 and an average finish of 5.2.

MORE: 2023 Truck Series schedule

“Our GMS team puts a lot into every race, but we’ve put everything we have into Bristol,” Enfinger said. “It’ll be important to have speed, but it’s just as important to have a truck that you can drive hard every lap.

“Everything happens so fast at Bristol, so you have to be on your game all race long. GMS Racing has had a lot of success at Bristol in the past, and we’re hoping to add to that on Thursday.”

Posted on by Cara Cooper

Julie Jorgenson has been going to races at Elko Speedway seemingly every Saturday during every summer of her life.

Her dad has been racing at the NASCAR Home Track in Minnesota for 50 years alongside several of her cousins and uncle, so it was only natural she wanted to take a bigger part in the sport that has meant so much to so many in her family.

“It’s a big family thing that we do,” Jorgenson said. “I saw my dad racing, and I told him I wanted a car, so we built one.”

Jorgenson’s dad has multiple championships at Elko, and she’s hopeful she can add another Jorgenson title this summer. She currently leads the points standings in Elko’s Power Stocks division. With three wins and 10 top-three finishes, she has a 17-point lead over second place.

In her rookie season in the track’s Thunder Cars division, she’s currently seventh with two wins and six top-three finishes.

In addition to chasing a title at Elko, Jorgenson is racing for a championship in Busch’s Women in Motorsports North America championship, where she is leading the points over fellow Elko Speedway driver Taylor Goldman.

“That’s been super fun,” she said of the Women of Motorsports points race. “When we first were contacted about it and we were looking at how the points work and everything, I was curious to see where I would end up. I didn’t think I would be up at the top.

“That’s been really fun seeing all of us girls and seeing the points and seeing everything kind of blow up a little more and being more recognized. That’s been super cool to be a part of that.”

Julie Jorgenson and Taylor Goldman
Julie Jorgenson and Taylor Goldman (Photo: Taylor Goldman Racing/Facebook)

If Jorgenson holds on to win the Elko title, she’ll be just the second female driver to win an Elko track championship. Goldman, who is a good friend of Jorgenson’s, was the first to win an Elko title in 2018.

To make history as a track champion while also adding to her family’s legacy “would mean so much to me,” Jorgenson said.

“I grew up watching these drivers that I’m racing with, and the fact that if I were to win a championship, that just means that I am where I’m supposed to be,” she added. “It’s in my blood with my family and going there all the time. It would be something off of my bucket list that I’ve been adding to each year.

“Now that I’ve started driving, I want to get a championship. I want to be able to grow so much that I can lock that down. It would just be so cool to add that. I’ll have my one time champion with my dad’s 10 time champion, so I’m working on getting up to him.”

Jorgenson started racing in quarter midgets when she was 12. At 15, she started racing full-sized cars at Elko, where she’s been competing now for nine seasons.

She races against her dad, Conrad, in Elko’s Thunder Cars division, and against her brother, Jimmie, in the track’s Power Stocks division.

“He has improved quite a bit, so it’s been really fun competing against him,” Jorgenson said of her brother. “It’s kind of a friendly sibling competition to see who does better.”

Jorgenson learned just about everything she knows about racing from her dad. He’s helped her gain confidence as a driver, and taught her lessons on how to look ahead and anticipate her next move.

There’s one lesson he passed on that has meant the most.

“To have fun, honestly,” she said. “That is the one thing I’ve learned from racing is that you go out there to have fun. That’s what it’s all about.”

Jorgenson has finished second in her division at Elko twice in her career. This is the closest she’s come to winning a title, and she said her increased success this year is largely due to her increased confidence as a driver.

“I used to just wait for my dad to tell me what he saw was wrong watching the car, and now, each year, more and more I can help pinpoint what we need to do,” she said. “Every year it’s just a little bit more that has felt different. … It’s just more confidence in my driving ability.

“Being 24 in a male-dominated sport, it’s all about confidence, because when I first started, I kind of just got out of the way. I started learning more and more, now I make sure that if I want the spot and I have the room to take it, I’m going to take it. Nobody can push me out of it or push me around or anything. So confidence is a big key, and the more you race and the more you believe in yourself the more confidence you get and the better you do, because you’re confident in yourself versus not feeling like you are able to push yourself that way.”

With three races remaining at Elko, winning her first title is all Jorgenson is focused on at this point. But she’s taking the lesson from her dad and said she plans to keep having fun as she pushes for a title, because, she said, “The more you get into your head about points and this and that, the harder it is to stay focused.”

Racing will return to Elko Speedway on Saturday. The track will host its championship night on Sept. 30.

Posted on by John Crane

A calm early Tuesday morning acted as Parker Kligerman’s moment of solace for the week, the opportunity helping the 33-year-old take in a hot coffee and park bench for a quick breather. But the brief moment of relaxation also opened the door to reflect — on the double-duty responsibility of driving full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and broadcasting for NBC Sports. And, perhaps most of all, reflect on clinching a coveted NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs berth for the first time in his career.

For Kligerman, the clinching ceremony came close to three days earlier, when a fourth-place finish at Kansas Speedway for the No. 48 Chevrolet helped him seize the 12th and final playoff berth via points, also marking Big Machine Racing’s first postseason appearance in its three years of existence.

RELATED: Meet the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs field 

“It’s definitely been a moment of reflection for sure, and I’m not the best at doing that,” Kligerman said during Xfinity Series Playoff Media Day on Tuesday. “I’m not the best at sort of staying in the moment or taking a breath in the moment and sort of being like, wow, this is really cool, but I tried this morning. …

“I will try and find those moments to sort of reflect on this, but at the same time, I am a competitor, I am a race car driver, I want to go win, I want to go compete at a high level here, I want to get us to do something amazing and be in position to go be a part of that Championship 4 because that would be a really, really cool accomplishment to make happen. No matter what happens, we’ve accomplished something big, but I really think we can do it.”

Kligerman’s 2023 Xfinity campaign — his first as a full-time driver since 2013 — could be seen through the lens of two halves of the regular season. Through the first 12 races of the season, Kligerman amassed only four top-10 finishes and two top-five finishes. A 14th-place finish in June at Portland International Raceway, however, flipped a switch, and in 13 ensuing races, Kligerman finished outside the top 10 only three times. Kligerman additionally finished inside the top five five times during that stretch, including a runner-up result in July at Road America.

Parker Kligerman prepares to enter his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet.
Logan Riely | Getty Images

Such a momentum swing — including the fourth-place finish at Kansas — didn’t solely put the No. 48 Chevrolet in prime position to clinch its first playoff berth. It also provided Kligerman the opportunity to gain more perspective when it comes to broadcasting.

So much perspective came from the playoff-hunting experience that, the morning following Kansas, Kligerman mentioned to NBC commentator Rick Allen his newfound appreciation for drivers who have gone through the tense grind of the postseason hunt.

This appreciation started during his own experience on Aug. 25 at Daytona International Speedway, when he realized he would not get help from other playoff-hopeful drivers as they looked to secure the same playoff berth. Fast forward to the Kansas race, and the appreciation only grew.

“It was an odd race because I have a newfound respect for the drivers that have gone through this because you race with the intention of, I gotta finish the best I can,” Kligerman said. “You have to focus on your race, the best ability you possibly can for your race team and you, but at the same time, no matter what you do, there’s this little thing in the back of your head being like, “OK, where’s the 98? OK, now the 9 is in second. All right, now I gotta go, right, and you also have to drive every lap at 99.9% because you can’t make mistakes.

“So like, this past weekend, I knew if I wanted to be more aggressive in the wall, we could’ve went up there and probably ran second. We had some speed in the bag, but I had to run the 99.9% ability of using the wall because if I hit the wall and cut a tire down, then that’s the stupidest thing I could do. At the same time, I was watching the 9 get away from me, and I’m thinking, what’s the choice here.”

MORE: Xfinity Series schedule | Bristol schedule

As the Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 12 gets underway Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Kligerman will look to continue a second-half stretch that helped vault the No. 48 team into the playoffs. And while Kligerman appreciates having a chance at competing for the Championship 4, he has not failed to realize how he has grown not only as a full-time driver but also as a broadcaster and individual.

“It’s been an amazing gift in my life to have this opportunity to be pushed to perform at such a high level in such a competitive endeavor at 32, 33 years old, and no matter what happens in my life, I’m going to be very grateful for this because I think it’s made me a better person,” Kligerman said. “I’m (not) going to say it’s made me smarter because I probably hit my limit there, but I think it’s definitely made me someone who’s a lot more understanding of the world, and I feel better prepared to be in pressure-packed, high-pressure situations no matter what that is in the future.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

The 12 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs drivers met with the media Tuesday afternoon to discuss the seven-race slate that begins with Friday night’s Food City 300 at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and concludes with NASCAR’s thrilling tripleheader championship week at Phoenix Raceway where a driver will be crowned the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver John Hunter Nemechek holds a 10-point edge over the Regular Season Champion Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing. JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier is third, 23 points back, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and JR Motorsport’s Sam Mayer.

MORE: Full Xfinity Series Playoffs standings | Meet the 2023 field

Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith, JR Motorsport’s Josh Berry, Hill’s RCR teammate Sheldon Creed, Nemechek’s JGR teammate Sammy Smith, Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric – the 2021 series champion – and Big Machine Racing’s Parker Kligerman round out the group of 12 drivers eligible to contend for the 2023 Xfinity Series trophy.

Hill, 29, earned the Regular Season Championship last week at Kansas Speedway, saying, “It just shows no matter how tough the battle is and how tough the uphill climb is, we never quit fighting.”

The No. 21 RCR Chevrolet driver has four wins this season, including two of the first three races. With the playoff reset, Hill will start 10 points behind the six-race winner Nemechek heading to Bristol this weekend.

“No, not at all,” Hill said of considering himself an odds-on title favorite. “I think the 20 car (of Nemechek) has to be the favorite; they’ve just been really fast all season long, they have six wins on the year. The main reason why we were able to win the Regular Season Championship was that we were just very consistent all year where the 20, they had more roller-coaster finishes going, and we were more even-keel.

“I don’t see us being a clear favorite, I think the 20 probably is, but we’re a good enough organization to make it to the final four, and if you can make it to the final four, anything can happen.”

Although Hill has two Xfinity wins and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory on the Daytona superspeedway, he bristles at being labeled merely a “big track specialist,” noting that, during his career, he’s won on every style of race track. And he’ll need to in this seven-race run for a title that includes the half-mile Bristol high-banks and the Charlotte Roval among its venue list.

“I kind of laugh anytime someone says that (I’m a superspeedway specialist) because if you look at my wins at the Truck level, I won on all different types of tracks,” Hill said. “I won on the dirt track. I won at Watkins Glen (road course). I won on superspeedways and mile-and-a-halves, so a lot of different race tracks.

“I’ve always felt like I could win on any given track we go to. … but it gives me a little bit of a chip on the shoulder. I’ve always been the guy no one really talks a lot about, always been the dark horse, so it kind of just gives me a little chip on my shoulder and want to prove to everybody that I can win on all these sorts of race tracks. All you have to do is look at what we’ve done this season.”

John Hunter Nemechek is focused on the goal at hand

Although he battled Hill vigorously for the Regular Season Championship, Nemechek will still start the playoffs ranked atop the leaderboard courtesy of his series-best six victories in 2023. Even with his position leading the series to start the Playoff run, the 26-year-old North Carolinian refuses to consider himself an odds-on favorite for his first major racing title.

Legacy Motor Club announced last week that Nemechek will drive the No. 42 Toyota for that team next year in the NASCAR Cup Series – a huge opportunity for the well-tested driver. He’d like to take an Xfinity Series championship with him to the new team, favorite or not.

“To be honest, I think it’s just noise to us,” said Nemechek, who led a dominating 154 of the 200 laps in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in last week’s regular-season finale at Kansas Speedway.

“We’re not really focused on being the favorite or not being the favorite. We’re focused on just running every race like we know how to do and to go out and race every single race track, every single week and put some emphasis on trying to win but also having good weeks and not letting bad weeks affect your playoff run.

“I don’t think the standpoint of being a favorite or not being a favorite really affects us or the mental side of things.”

Justin Allgaier isn’t sure if experience is a plus or minus

The Xfinity Series veteran and perennial championship contender Justin Allgaier said Tuesday that sometimes being that experienced competitor works against him. Ranked third in the playoff standings with wins at Charlotte and Daytona (2), the 37-year-old driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet likes his title chances but warned that having a lot of experience doesn’t necessarily translate into a championship trophy.

“I think as a veteran and somebody that’s got experience, you sometimes come in a little more tentatively, maybe you don’t put yourself in positions you would even in the regular season to try to win races because you know that maybe sometimes being safe is a better route,” said Allgaier, whose best title run was runner-up in 2020.

“But winning races is also really ultra-important. If you can win a race each round and lock your way into Phoenix, it’s a lot easier than it is to point your way in. I think sometimes, with experience comes reservation. I’ve got plenty of gray hair here to prove that I’ve done my fair share of crashing. I think you just race differently than you would if you’re kind of young and tenacious and have a little bit of a different outlook on what it takes to be successful.

“I also don’t know how many more opportunities I’ll have,” Allgaier continued. “You never know when that next opportunity is going to come to have a shot to go for a championship, so you try to almost hold it in close and not let it go, and sometimes I think, maybe throwing caution to the wind would be a better approach.”

Posted on by Staff Report

After a tense run-in with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson late in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Kansas Speedway, No. 9 Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott offered his thoughts on the incident, taking the onus on himself and downplaying any drama.

“There’s a lot that goes on. We obviously ran into each other on pit road and I didn’t have the full picture of what went on, so I was frustrated,” Elliott told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. “That stuff happens, for sure. But at the end of the day, I’ll certainly take the blame for my frustration on that front. The good news is he and I can have a conversation like adults and it’s a non-issue. The bad news is, it’s (not) a non-issue for all of y’all and everybody that wants to talk about it. There’s nothing to talk about.”

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>.<a href=”https://twitter.com/chaseelliott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@chaseelliott</a> shares his perspective on the late-race pit road incident with <a href=”https://twitter.com/KyleLarsonRacin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@KyleLarsonRacin</a> at <a href=”https://twitter.com/kansasspeedway?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@kansasspeedway</a> ⬇️<br><br>🗣️ “I didn’t have the full picture of what went on so I was frustrated […] the good news is he and I can have a conversation like adults and it’s a non-issue.” <a href=”https://t.co/njpkqZzYlB”>pic.twitter.com/njpkqZzYlB</a></p>&mdash; SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) <a href=”https://twitter.com/SiriusXMNASCAR/status/1701706403357044963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

On a late round of pit stops, Larson swerved to avoid Brad Keselowski, exiting his stall, on pit road. Larson incidentally made contact with Elliott as a result of the maneuver, with the No. 9 obscured from seeing the reason Larson’s No. 5 veered suddenly. With Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 to his outside, Elliott was unable to swerve and avoid contact with the No. 5. Elliott then retaliated and swerved into Larson’s car on the apron of the track.

The pair talked on pit road after the race.

“From my vantage point, I knew we were three-wide while we were leaving. And I knew — well, I didn’t know — but the (No.) 6 is pitted in front of us, and I was just trying to leave as much space as I can,” Larson told NBC Sports after the race. “He’s coming out of the lane because the 6 is trying to slow us down. I tried to leave as much space as I could. Obviously, I made contact with (Elliott), but I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to clobber the 6 right in the right front. I thought the safest bet for all of us was for me to squeeze out a little bit.”

“I understand why he’s mad or was mad in the moment,” said Larson. “I hope when he sees the replay, he understands I didn’t have the space or not much. It was just inches.”

The Round of 16 concludes Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials indicated Tuesday that driver Noah Gragson has been reinstated from his suspension and is cleared to resume NASCAR activity.

Competition officials suspended Gragson on Aug. 5 for violating the member conduct section of the NASCAR Rule Book, citing in a statement “his actions on social media.” That suspension came hours after his Legacy Motor Club team issued its own indefinite suspension, for “actions that do not represent the values of our team.”

Tuesday, a NASCAR spokesperson said that “Noah Gragson has completed diversity and inclusion training with our partners at RISE,” and that group recommended his reinstatement, restoring his member privileges.

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Gragson released a statement on social media Tuesday evening.

 

Gragson was 21 races into his rookie Cup Series season with Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 Chevrolet team when he was suspended. Five days after that penalty, Gragson and the team announced that they had parted ways, with the 25-year-old driver asking for his release and the organization — co-owned by Maury Gallagher, Jimmie Johnson and Richard Petty — granting it.

“I have asked Legacy Motor Club to release me from my contract so that I can take time to work through the NASCAR reinstatement process,” Gragson said in his statement Aug. 10. “I love racing, and I am looking forward to a second chance to compete for wins at the highest level of NASCAR — and most importantly, make my family, my team and the fans proud of me once again.”

Legacy MC has fielded a host of substitutes in the No. 42 Chevy since Gragson’s departure, with Josh Berry, Carson Hocevar and Mike Rockenfeller taking the wheel for two races each. Hocevar, a Craftsman Truck Series regular, is scheduled to drive the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 this Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The organization announced Sept. 6 that Xfinity Series driver John Hunter Nemechek will take over the No. 42 seat next season.