Posted on by Adam Fenwick

The battle for the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship will come to a close Thursday when the Tour makes its 37th visit to the popular, 0.526-mile paved oval known as Martinsville Speedway.

Four drivers — Jon McKennedy, Ron Silk, Justin Bonsignore and Eric Goodale — enter the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 in contention for the championship. Any one could end the day as the title winner, but the champion will need to overcome the strongest field of the season.

Martinsville first hosted the modern version of the Tour in 1985, when Charlie Jarzombek won the first two Tour events at the track. Through the years, countless legendary names in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour history have visited Victory Lane at Martinsville, including Reggie Ruggiero, Mike McLaughlin, Tom Baldwin, Tony Hirschman, Mike Stefanik, Ted Christopher, Jimmy Blewett and Donny Lia, among others.

The Tour returned to Martinsville last season for the first time since 2010, and it was Goodale, who enters Thursday’s finale 13 points out of the championship lead, who emerged as the race winner. A victory likely will be what it takes for Goodale to claim his first Tour title, and based on history, that very well could happen.

Below is everything you need to know about Thursday’s Virginia is For Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

MORE MARTINSVILLE: Entry list | Tickets | Streaming

Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway

What to watch for:

Martinsville Speedway CEntering the final race of the 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, the top four drivers in the series standings are separated by only 13 points.

Jon McKennedy enters the race as the championship leader, six points ahead of 2011 champion Ron Silk. Three-time and defending Tour champion Justin Bonsignore is third and 11 points back from the lead, while defending Martinsville winner Eric Goodale is fourth, only 13 points back.

Any of those drivers could end Thursday as the champion, but the battle for the victory, the coveted Martinsville grandfather clock and $111,113 in posted awards is going to be as intense as ever. A whopping 37 cars are entered in Thursday’s race, a season-high for the Tour.

Headlining the list of entrants in addition to the championship contenders are a quartet of drivers with experience in the NASCAR Cup Series. They include 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte, who will make his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut for team owner Phil Stefanelli.

Cars line up during qualifying for the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 for the Whelen Modified Tour at Martinsville Raceway in Martinsville, Virginia on April 8, 2021. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Cars line up during qualifying for the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Martinsville Speedway on April 8, 2021. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner and four-time Tour winner, returns to make his second start this year in a car co-owned by Hermie Sadler and Virginia State Senator William Stanley. Current Cup Series competitor Corey LaJoie, who made his return to the Tour earlier this year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, is also entered in the No. 53 for car owner Mike Curb.

Ryan Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, is back for his fifth race of the season and his third start of the year in the legendary Ole Blue No. 3. Preece scored his first Tour triumph back in 2008 at Martinsville in the Ole Blue No. 3.

Other notable entrants include six-time Tour champion Doug Coby, who will be in his own No. 10 for Thursday’s finale, Matt Hirschman, Max McLaughlin, Joey Coulter, Bobby Santos III, Anthony Nocella, Craig Lutz, Jimmy Blewett and Chuck Hossfeld.

The complete entry for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 can be viewed here.

RACE FACTS

Race Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200
Date Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022
Track Martinsville Speedway
Layout 0.526-mile paved oval
Location Martinsville, Virginia
Start Time 8 p.m. ET
Laps 200
Posted awards $111,113
TV channel USA (Delayed: Friday, Nov. 1, 1 p.m. ET)
Live stream FloRacing (Live)
Radio MRN (Live)

Schedule: Thursday, Oct. 27… Final practice from 3 – 4 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 5 p.m. … Race at 8 p.m. ET

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment:The maximum tire allotment available for this event is 12 tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson was eliminated from repeating as the NASCAR Cup Series drivers’ champion in the Round of 12, but his triumph Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway opened the door for a potential team owners title for his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports group next month.

The possibility of a split championship exists for the first time in the Cup Series’ modern era when the sun sets on the 2022 season Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.

Joey Logano and his Team Penske No. 22 Ford team clinched a unified berth in the Championship 4 fields with a victory in the Round of 8 opener a week ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Three title shots remain open in the driver playoffs, but just two exist on the team owners’ side after Larson locked the No. 5 team in.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | At-track photos

The divide opened near the end of the regular season when Kurt Busch withdrew his name from playoff contention as his recovery from a concussion stretched into the postseason. His No. 45 23XI Racing team retained its eligibility for the team owners’ title, thanks to Busch’s win in May at Kansas Speedway. The team, which shifted Bubba Wallace into the No. 45’s seat for the playoffs, was knocked from contention after the Round of 12.

Ryan Blaney clinched the 16th and final spot in the drivers’ playoffs in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team was one spot shy of reaching the owners’ playoffs. Blaney would qualify for the driver’s crown if he advances to the Championship 4 round after Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) at Martinsville Speedway.

Two Hendrick Motorsports drivers — Chase Elliott and William Byron — remain alive in the drivers’ championship. They also carry the hopes of the No. 9 (Elliott) and No. 24 (Byron) teams with them, which would secure the 15th championship on the team owners’ side for NASCAR Hall of Famer Rick Hendrick.

“I certainly think they’re both important,” said Jeff Andrews, president and general manager of Hendrick Motorsports. “Obviously one has a different financial impact than the other one does, as we know the points fund is based largely on the owner points, but certainly for the driver as well as the team that that driver is associated with. That’s equally important to us, to be able to go there and compete for that and try to get that accomplished.”

Larson captured his first Cup Series championship last year at Phoenix, but says he still has aspirations for a repeat of sorts for his No. 5 bunch.

“I view myself as … if I say we were to win Phoenix, like my name isn’t going to be on the championship, but having our team be the champion I think is honestly better than … like I would hate to be in Ryan Blaney’s position,” Larson said. “I think he’s the one that’s only in on driver, not owner. I would hate to be in his position, and say he wins the championship and he is credited with a championship but not his team. If I was to have it one way or the other, I would rather be out on my end and be able to celebrate the team championship.

“I’m happy that we get to go compete for that again, and honestly that’s the paycheck, too. We’re going to go for that, and we’re fired up about it.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — There weren’t many happy drivers to be found on pit road following Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway — and we’re not even in Martinsville yet.

You’ll get that in a sport where there are 30-plus losers and only one driver spraying champagne in Victory Lane, but, still, the playoff pressure is mounting. And evident.

Sunday’s 400-miler was yet another entry in this 10-race Cup Series playoff run won by a driver outside the postseason field, seeing one more opportunity dry up for the seven remaining championship-eligible drivers to clinch their spot in Phoenix Raceway’s Championship 4 race via a win alongside Joey Logano, the only driver currently locked in. In a race littered with late mistakes, drivers were beating themselves up in their post-race debriefs with media, focusing on what needs to be cleaned up before they try to all survive next weekend’s looming chaos at the paperclip-shaped Virginia short track.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

“(We’re not snake-bitten), just a lot of self-induced (mistakes),” said Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney after a promising run with yet another fast race car was derailed by error. “Two weeks bonehead-driver induced. So that part definitely stinks. Just the driver making mistakes. Team does a great job getting our car better again, had a fast car and I wrecked last week by myself and I downshift this week coming off pit road so just disappointed in myself.”

On Lap 211, Blaney saw his No. 12 Ford spin leaving the access road coming out of the pits, the result of an accidental downshift from high to low gear. It came not long after Blaney was running in the P2 position, a potential result that would’ve put him in a reasonably comfortable position heading into next Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway, a track at which he owns the best average finish (10.2) among active drivers.

Instead of what was shaping up to be exactly the kind of rebound race the No. 12 team needed to escape the hole of minus-11 points to the bubble heading into Homestead, he leaves the 305 with an even deeper deficit at minus-18.

“Being as many points as we are out, you know you hope you can … it’s kind of like a must-win,” Blaney said. “I don’t see us making up that many points, so just go try to put yourself in a position to win the race. I don’t think we can point our way in, honestly. I think we’re too far out. So just gonna go do the best you can, you never know what’s gonna happen. Just try to run up front, put yourself in a spot to win the race. That’s all you can do.”

While far from a banner day for the No. 24 Chevrolet team, fellow playoff contender William Byron also had a bit of an up-and-down day, showing strength in both of the opening stages (2nd, 3rd, respectively) before a major hiccup by his team on pit road nearly washed it all away. A loose wheel during a Lap 207 pit stop necessitated a reversal by the No. 24 driver to get it tightened, which subsequently was followed by his Chevy stalling briefly as he attempted to drive off again. He recovered to finish a respectable 12th, but if it weren’t for those stage points and a fast car to race back through the field he could’ve been looking at perhaps a must-win situation in Virginia.

“We just kind of had a couple of runs that were worse than the others and just had that one run that I felt like we were struggling real bad,” Byron said. “And then we kind of got better at the end and had something again at the end so I don’t know, just kind of really struggled the one time and the rest of the race was pretty good.”

After heading into Sunday six points down below the elimination line, Byron now leaves Miami five points to the good to position both remaining Hendrick Motorsports cars (the other being 2020 champ Chase Elliott) provisionally in the title race.

There’s still one race remaining before that Championship 4 is finalized, however, but as the untouchable winner in Martinsville’s spring race, the chances to make it through are favorable.

“(We plan to attack Martinsville) just the same,” Byron said. “I mean, I honestly feel like it’s a good place for us. So we just got to try to approach it the same as we always do.

“I don’t think (we need to win) but we just need a really good day. I feel decent about it. I think we just have to … like, we had a test there and I felt like our car was decent. We just got to work on a couple of little things and just get a little bit better. Because everyone’s gonna get better from the spring. So I think if we do that we’ll be in good shape.”

Those that will have a shot to fight for the 2022 title will be decided next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — and we should only expect four drivers to be smiling after that one, too.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

Another playoff race without a championship-eligible driver in Victory Lane means the intensity will reach its peak next Sunday when the Championship 4 is set at Martinsville Speedway. With three title bids still up for grabs, let’s take a look at the Cup Series playoff field following the Round of 8 midpoint at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

WINNER

Kyle Larson put on a dominant performance Sunday, leading 199 of the 267 laps at the South Florida 1.5-mile oval to take his third win of the season. While he’s not eligible for the big trophy at Phoenix Raceway, he’s clinched a title berth for the No. 5 team as they chase the owners’ championship.

RELATED: Official results | Cup schedule

WHO’S HOT?

Ross Chastain. Two runner-up finishes in a row for the Florida native have him in a good position above the elimination line heading into the penultimate race of the 2022 season. Homestead marked his fifth top-10 finish in the playoffs and the third top-five run in the last four races. Martinsville could solidify Chastain’s bid for a title shot at Phoenix as he finished fifth there in the spring.

WHO’S NOT?

Chase Briscoe. After overcoming early woes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Briscoe’s chances of reaching the Championship 4 will come down to being victorious at Martinsville after hitting the wall near the end of Stage 2, parachuting the No. 14 Ford to a 36th-place finish at Homestead.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank Driver Cutoff
1. Joey Logano WIN
2. Ross Chastain +19
3. Chase Elliott +11
4. William Byron +5
——– ELIMINATION LINE ———-
5. Denny Hamlin -5
6. Ryan Blaney -18
7. Christopher Bell -33
8. Chase Briscoe -44

NEXT RACE

The Championship 4 will be set next Sunday with the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

WHO IT FAVORS

William Byron. In the spring and under the lights, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet led 212 of 403 laps to take the checkered flag at Martinsville for his second win of the year. The victory was no fluke for Byron as he scored back-to-back top-five finishes on the 0.526-mile short track before. With just a five-point advantage after Homestead, Byron will need to run just as well at Martinsville in order to clinch his first Championship 4 berth.

WHO IT HURTS

Christopher Bell. Bell is in a must-win situation at Martinsville if he wants to keep his Championship 4 hopes alive after a hard-fought 11th-place run at Homestead. He grabbed a clutch victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course in a similar scenario. Still, the driver of the No. 20 Toyota has yet to produce quality results at the Virginia short track outside of a single top-10 finish early in 2021.

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday, he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form.

Larson swept both stage wins and led 199 of the race’s 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger was third, with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. It is the 2012 series champion Keselowski’s first top-five finish since becoming co-owner of the organization this season.

The win was 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson’s third of the year and 19th of his career – but the first at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval after a pair of previous near-misses. He led a race-best 132 laps in 2016 but finished runner-up. He led 145 laps in 2017 and finished third.

“No matter what team I’ve been with, things haven’t worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today,’’ Larson said.

“Definitely the best run we’ve had all year long,’’ he added. “We’ve been capable of it, I feel like many weekends, we just hadn’t quite put it all together. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused.

“Amazing race car,’’ he noted with a smile.

The 30-year-old Californian was eliminated from the playoffs in the last round, so Chastain was the top-finishing championship contender with only one race – next week at Martinsville, Va. – to set the four-driver championship field for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix.

Only two playoff drivers finished in the top 10 Sunday at Homestead: Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who was seventh in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (finished 11th), Sunday’s pole-sitter William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Ryan Blaney (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) were still running on the lead lap at the checkered flag. The eighth playoff-eligible driver, Chase Briscoe, finished last (36th) after making contact with the wall on Lap 160.

Hamlin (four laps), Bell (four laps) and Byron (32 laps) all spent time leading the field before various setbacks.

Team Penske’s Logano is the only playoff driver who has already earned his position in the championship race, thanks to a victory at Las Vegas a week ago. Chastain, Elliott and Byron now complete the top-four driver ranking.

Hamlin sits in fifth place, five points below Byron. Blaney is 18 points below the provisional cut line, Bell 33 back and Briscoe is now essentially in a must-win situation, trailing by 44 points.

With his victory, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet team is eligible for the owner’s title.

MORE: Playoff Pulse analysis

While Larson dominated the laps-led category and even paced the field by more than nine seconds at one point late in the race, he had to earn this trophy after a late-race caution flag.

Martin Truex Jr. had taken the lead after a caution period with 46 laps remaining and pulled away to a nearly two-second lead when the final yellow flag flew again with 23 laps remaining.

As the field pitted, Larson’s Chevy was right behind Truex’s Toyota, and it appeared Truex was going to miss his pit box when Larson’s car bumped Truex’s car from behind. The contact spun Truex, whose team was still able to service the car. He fell outside the top 10 initially before racing back up to a sixth-place finish.

“I was just going behind him, and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I got into the back of him,” Larson explained of the incident. “My team said he was late getting into his stall. I don’t know. If it was my fault, I’m sorry, but I don’t think it was. It’s hard to see on this pit road. .. hate that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat.”

Truex, who is still racing for his first victory of 2022, was obviously disappointed in the outcome but could only shake his head at the circumstances.

“It’s really hard to see through these windshields with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it,’’ Truex said. “I did see my box late for sure, so I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Larson) there.

“Partly on me, I didn’t expect to get turned around, and glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just tough, just disappointing to have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. I hate it for my team.

“It’s been one of those years.”

The final race to set the Championship 4 is next Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).  Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman is last year’s race winner but won’t be competing while recovering from concussion-like symptoms. His teammate Byron won at Martinsville earlier this season.

Note: Post-race technical inspection was completed in the Cup Series garage without issue, confirming Larson as the winner. Three cars — the Nos. 7 and 77 from Spire Motorsports, and the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports entry — will go to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for engine evaluations.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find USA Network | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | Watch on USA Network | Get the NBC Sports App | Watch on Peacock | FloRacing | How to watch NASCAR International

Monday, Oct. 24
4 p.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville (re-air), FS2
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Best of Radioactive: Martinsville (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Best of Radioactive: Martinsville (re-air), FS1
8 p.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 2007 NCS Martinsville race, FS1
11 p.m., Race for the Championship, Playoff Pitfalls (re-air), USA Network

Tuesday, Oct. 25
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Best of Radioactive: Martinsville (re-air), FS2
1 p.m., NASCAR’s Race Classic: 2010 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Wednesday, Oct. 26
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock

Thursday. Oct. 27
1 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 2010 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Masters of the Clock: The Legend of Martinsville, FS1
8 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Martinsville Speedway, FloRacing
10 p.m., Race for the Championship, USA Network

On MRN:
8 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Martinsville Speedway

Friday, Oct. 28
12:57 a.m., Race for the Championship (re-air), USA Network
6 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Best of Radioactive: Martinsville (re-air), FS2
6:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 2010 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2
4 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice/qualifying at Martinsville Speedway, USA Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Saturday, Oct. 29
1 a.m., Race for the Championship (re-air), USA Network
12 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBC Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series practice/qualifying at Martinsville Speedway, USA Network (joined in progress)
2 p.m., Dale Jr. Download (re-air), USA Network
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway, NBC, Peacock
11 p.m., NASCAR Race Classic: 2010 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway (re-air), FS2

On MRN:
12 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Martinsville Speedway
2:30 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway

Sunday, Oct. 30
11:30 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Martinsville, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Countdown to Green: Cup Series, NBC
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, NBC

On MRN:
1 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Posted on by Staff Report

Playoff contender Chase Briscoe found trouble near the end of Stage 2, sidelining him early from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Briscoe’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford slowed after scrubbing the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 160 of the 267-lap distance in Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400. The incident forced a caution period, and Briscoe drove to pit road with significant right-side damage.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“Sorry, guys. Just too loose,” Briscoe said after his contact. “It’s broke. It’s broke bad.”

Briscoe later pulled the No. 14 Ford to the garage, ending his race. He finished last in the 36-car field.

“The driver just made a mistake,” Briscoe said after a check at the infield care center. “I was really, really loose that run. We were really tight every other run. That green-flag run, we tried to get really free on the other side of it and just started taking really hard. I was hanging on with everything I had. It felt like I was on ice. Honestly, I wasn’t even running hard. I was trying to just get to the caution. We kept getting freer. I got sideways and had the wheel all the way to the right and ended up head-on into the wall.

“It is really frustrating to have it be something of my own doing. I am better than to be crashing by myself. It is really unfortunate.”

Briscoe entered Sunday’s race in sixth place among the eight remaining title-eligible drivers in the Cup Series Playoffs. The Homestead-Miami event is the second of three races in the Round of 8, and the four-driver championship field will be determined after next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) at Martinsville Speedway.

Briscoe will be in a virtual must-win scenario, sitting last in the playoff pecking order and 44 points behind the provisional elimination line.

“It makes our job easier next week, I guess,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about points. We gotta go to Martinsville and win.”

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

The NASCAR Cup Series is at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Dixie Vodka 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

Homestead is a fairly unique track on the circuit and Darlington is the closest comparable track.

Homestead is a 1.5-mile, steeply banked track with variable banking from 18-to-20 degrees in the corners. Those corners are unique as well, with turns 1 and 2, as well as turns 3 and 4, being 180-degree corners.

This combination of factors helps differentiate Homestead from traditional 1.5-mile tracks, and favors a unique driving style that suits some drivers better than others.

I’m eyeing one such driver in a matchup between teammates.

RELATED: Updated race-day odds

NASCAR Pick for Homestead

*Odds as of Saturday evening

DraftKings has a matchup between Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.

Both drivers are listed at -110, meaning DraftKings views this as a 50/50 toss-up when removing the juice.

In my opinion, Larson should be the clear favorite.

DraftKings is probably looking at starting position, which favors Elliott (third) over Larson (fifth), as well as 10-lap average time. There, Elliott ranks sixth and Larson is ninth.

I’m not really worried about either of those metrics.

I’d rather look at tire falloff over a long run. Homestead chews up tires, so it all comes down to tire management.

The difference between Larson’s 10- and 30-lap average was less than half a second. Elliott’s falloff was much more pronounced as he lost nearly a full second between those averages.

Additionally, Larson is just flat out better here. He’s finished inside the top five in four of his past six Homestead races despite running five of those with Chip Ganassi Racing instead of HMS.

Larson’s two finishes outside the top five are also misleading because he was running inside the top five before encountering problems in both of those races.

Elliott, meanwhile, has an average finish of 9.0 over his past six Homestead races, all incident free. Only two of those were inside the top five.

Give me the driver who is tailor made for this track and had less falloff over the long run all day.

The Bet: Kyle Larson -110 over Chase Elliott | Bet to: -120

Posted on by Dustin Albino

With practice and qualifying at Homestead-Miami Speedway being on a cool surface in the morning, there’s no telling how much will transition into the warm, South Beach sun during Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM). Hendrick Motorsports topped qualifying, while Toyota continued to stand out on intermediate tracks. Subbing for Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek put together an impressive Saturday in what’s scheduled to be his lone Cup start of 2022.

RELATED: Starting lineup for Sunday | Set your Fantasy Live lineup

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Kyle Larson
Starter 2: William Byron
Starter 3: Tyler Reddick
Starter 4: Denny Hamlin
Starter 5: Christopher Bell
Garage pick: Ross Chastain

NEXT IN LINE: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Elliott.

RISING: After Wallace’s one-race suspension, Nemechek gets his best opportunity at the Cup level this weekend driving the No. 45 Toyota. Nemechek loves Homestead and was quick at the two-day test last month. He backed up that speed in practice (first) and earned his best career starting spot in qualifying (fourth).

Through the first four intermediate-track races in the playoffs, Elliott has been a non-factor. Last week at Las Vegas, the No. 9 car barely cracked the top 20 throughout the 400-mile race. But he showed up in qualifying and will start third. Overall, Hendrick Motorsports showed a bunch of speed, putting three cars inside the top five.

FALLING: Harvick’s 16th-place starting position is his worst at Homestead since 2012. And while qualifying doesn’t typically matter a ton in South Florida, Harvick was 23rd in single-lap practice speed and 22nd on 10-lap averages. Think it bodes well to save a use of the No. 4 car this weekend, despite Harvick netting seven top-five finishes in his last eight Homestead starts.

In four of the last five Homestead races, Truex has finished on the podium. The first of those resulted in winning the 2017 championship; his two runner-up finishes meant second-place finishes in the championship battle. The No. 19 team has had an adventurous postseason, tallying a pair of top 10s. He will start 12th but ranked 20th in practice.

RELATED: Updated race-day odds

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Ryan Blaney vs. Joey Logano: All the talk out of the Homestead test in September was how much speed Team Penske had found. Logano credited his win at Las Vegas last week to gathering data at Homestead. However, all three Penske drivers missed the final round of qualifying. Blaney was the best of the trio in 13th, and given he’s chasing points, I believe he’s the better choice.

Chase Briscoe vs. William Byron: The defending winner, Byron, put his No. 24 Chevrolet on the pole. It’s his first pole of 2022. Briscoe will line up 19th for the race and was slower than Byron on long-run speed. Briscoe has been overlooked all postseason and has maximized his points, but Byron could win this race. Use the No. 24 car in your lineup Sunday.

Chase Elliott vs. Denny Hamlin: Entering the weekend, Hamlin would have been a heavy favorite to outrun Elliott. That advantage is gone after Saturday, with Elliott qualifying third and Hamlin back in 14th. With how the No. 11 Toyota runs at tracks like Homestead — Hamlin has three wins on the 1.5-mile track — I’d still think Hamlin scores more points during the race.

Posted on by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Noah Gragson has led plenty of laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three top-10 finishes in his four starts before this weekend. And Saturday night – at long last – Gragson earned the Xfinity Series winner’s trophy to go with all his statistical success at the South Florida track.

The 23-year-old Las Vegas native led a dominating 127 of the 200 laps – at one point his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy was out front by more than nine seconds. Ultimately it took a strong restart with five laps remaining for Gragson to ensure the victory – just .550 seconds over fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series championship challenger Ty Gibbs.

RELATED: Official results | Weekend schedule

The win is Gragson’s automatic ticket to the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks – a fitting placement for the young driver who leads the series with eight wins, more than doubling his previous best single-season win tally.

“I wanted this one so bad,’’ Gragson said, raising his hand in celebration with the cheering crowd. “The last three years. … Words can’t describe how thankful I am for everybody at JR Motorsports.”

Noah Gragson does a smoky burnout in the No. 9 Chevrolet after winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Jared East | Getty Images

The Xfinity Series race wrapped up a huge NASCAR doubleheader Saturday with the dominating Gragson victory. He won both stages, giving him 16 stage wins on the season – more than twice as many as any other driver.

Gragson now joins his JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry – last week’s winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – with an automatic Championship 4 berth with two final-four positions still to be decided.

Gibbs’ runner-up finish places him third in the championship standings. He’s a healthy 30 points ahead of fourth place, Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger, with next week’s Martinsville (Va.) Speedway race settling which four drivers will be racing for the title at Phoenix on Nov. 5.

“We were just battling our race car all day, we made great adjustments and my guys never gave up,’’ said the 20-year-old Gibbs, who was making his Homestead-Miami Speedway debut.

“We’ll move on to Martinsville. I feel like that’s a place we were really fast at earlier this year and probably had a shot to win it so I’m excited to go back there.”

JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier, who had an eventful day, finished 10th coming back from being a lap down. He now trails Allmendinger by only five points for that final Playoff berth. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill sits seven points below the cutoff line with a ninth-place Homestead finish.

MORE: At-track photos: Homestead

JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer, who finished fifth Saturday, is now 28 points behind Allmendinger, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones is 28 points back after finishing 15th.

Gibbs and Allmendinger were among the seven race leaders on the day. If not for a late-race caution for a frontstretch incident on Lap 187, it looked like a sure Gragson runaway.

Allmendinger finished third with his Kaulig Racing teammate Daniel Hemric fourth. Mayer was fifth. Trevor Bayne finished sixth – his 46 laps led in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota were second only to Gragson’s high mark – and contended before a pit-road speeding penalty on Lap 144 hindered his victory bid.

Chandler Smith, who hours earlier at Homestead earned a Championship 4 position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, finished seventh. Riley Herbst, Hill and Allgaier rounded out the top 10.

The Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled for next Saturday, Oct. 29 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM) at Martinsville Speedway. The Dead On Tools 250 will be the last of three races in the postseason’s Round of 8, and the remaining slots in the Championship 4 field will be decided after the 250-lap event. Gragson is the defending winner of this playoff race. Jones won at Martinsville this spring.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Gragson as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff reports