Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR notified race teams of rule changes before this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway to address fire issues that were seen at Darlington Raceway.

The use of intumescent coatings are now permitted for the underside of the car’s lower crush panels, inside the exhaust cover panels and the upper surface of the rocker box. It is also permitted to apply the coating to the right side stop panel.

Intumescent coatings help provide fire protection to steel components, and the changes come after exhaust issues during Sunday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington ended the race for Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford and JJ Yeley in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford.

Other changes for Kansas included mandating a lateral seal/dam to be installed between the back of the front clip weight box and the top of the splitter panel to help reduce the migration of tire debris from the splitter area. And there were also instructions on trimming of the back stop panel included in the rules changes.

It was also recommended that with exhaust installation, clearance between the exhaust and the floor of the rocker box be maximized.

A NASCAR spokesperson said these changes are a follow-up to the first step exhaust shroud update that was mandated for Richmond Raceway to address specific issues encountered at Indianapolis. Development will continue in this area, and further updates are possible as test results are evaluated.

Posted on by Brandon White

Jon McKennedy has slightly more breathing room to work with in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings following Saturday’s Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway.

Entering the race with just a three-point advantage, McKennedy stayed out of trouble all evening while the second-place points driver in 2011 champion Ron Silk was forced to make a late pit stop, which increased McKennedy’s lead to 10 points.

RELATED: Complete results from Oswego Speedway

Although McKennedy and Silk have primarily controlled the top two spots during the summer, a third contender has entered the conversation in three-time champion Justin Bonsignore. By winning at Oswego on Saturday, Bonsignore only trails McKennedy by 17 points with just three races remaining on the 2022 schedule.

Below is a breakdown of how the top 10 drivers in the standings fared during the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150, along with a complete look at the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings.

The top three in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings are separated by just 17 points. (Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)
  1. Jon McKennedy: 492 points 

As has been the theme for most of the 2022 season, McKennedy enjoyed a calm evening at Oswego to settle for a solid, sixth-place finish. Maintaining consistent runs will be imperative for McKennedy over the final three races if he wants to keep Silk and Bonsignore behind him.

  1. Ron Silk: 482 points

For most of the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150, Silk was running right with McKennedy until he was forced to make a late, unscheduled stop. Silk’s 13th place finish at Oswego will now force him to play both offense and defense as he attempts to claim his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title.

  1. Justin Bonsignore: 475 points

Two poor early-season finishes at New Smyrna Speedway and Riverhead Raceway are the primary reason why Bonsignore is not atop the point standings. Now armed with three wins on the year, momentum is shifting in Bonsignore’s favor to win a third consecutive title in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

  1. Eric Goodale: 465 points 

Goodale remains a dark horse contender for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title, but he has work to do after Oswego. A ninth place run for Goodale on Saturday gives him eight Top 10s on the 2022 season, yet Bonsignore’s victory caused him to fall from third to four in the standings.

  1. Kyle Bonsignore: 445 points

The other Bonsignore did everything possible to overtake his cousin during the final laps of Saturday’s Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150. Kyle ended up settling for fifth, matching a season-best three top-five finishes that he originally set last year.

  1. Austin Beers*: 441 points

After tallying a career-best performance of third at Langley Speedway last weekend, Beers ended up getting a reality check on Saturday evening. Beers struggled to maintain solid track position at the front of the field and ended up finishing in 12th.

  1. Tommy Catalano: 438 points

The Bud Mod Classic 150 was a night to forget for Catalano. He finished two laps down in the 17th position; his worst run on the 2022 season since New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he finished 20th after blowing an engine.

  1. Craig Lutz: 429 points

Lutz has quietly turned his season around after finding Victory Lane at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. Lutz mixed it up with the Bonsignores and Chuck Hossfeld during the final laps of the Toyota Bud Mod Classic 150 and ultimately came home in third for his second top five of 2022.

  1. Doug Coby: 368 points

Despite now being a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Coby remains one of the most efficient drivers in the series with three wins on the year. The six-time champion enjoyed plenty of time out front at Oswego on Saturday but diverging pit strategies forced him to settle for seventh

  1. J.B. Fortin: 339 points

An early accident set the tone for Fortin’s night at Oswego. He finished in the 22nd position and has not recorded a top 10 since finishing third at Jennerstown Speedway back on May 28.

Pos. Driver Points Starts Wins 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Top 5 Top 10
1 Jon McKennedy 492 13 1 1 0 4 1 2 7 11
2 Ron Silk 482 13 0 2 3 1 1 0 7 10
3 Justin Bonsignore 475 13 3 1 0 0 2 2 6 10
4 Eric Goodale 465 13 0 2 0 1 0 2 3 8
5 Kyle Bonsignore 445 13 0 1 0 1 1 2 3 8
6 Austin Beers * 441 13 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5
7 Tommy Catalano 438 13 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 6
8 Craig Lutz 429 13 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 6
9 Doug Coby 368 9 3 0 1 0 1 0 5 9
10 J.B. Fortin 339 12 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
11 Dave Sapienza 291 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Gary McDonald 290 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Patrick Emerling 287 9 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 5
14 Walter Sutcliffe Jr. 282 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Melissa Fifield 263 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Matt Hirschman 257 6 1 2 1 1 1 0 6 6
17 Ken Heagy 243 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
18 Tyler Rypkema 230 7 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 3
19 Jake Johnson * 193 6 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 4
20 Andrew Krause 179 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 3
21 Kyle Ebersole 169 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
22 Timmy Solomito 165 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3
23 Donny Lia 154 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
24 Jimmy Blewett 139 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
25 James Pritchard, Jr. * 130 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 Mike Christopher, Jr. * 120 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 2
27 Ronnie Williams 119 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 Ryan Preece 111 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3
29 Matt Kimball * 106 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
30 Eddie McCarthy * 105 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 Dylan Slepian * 102 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2
32 Spencer Davis 102 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
33 Sam Rameau 94 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
34 Bobby Santos, III 94 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
35 Anthony Nocella 88 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
36 Brian Roble * 86 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
37 Kyle Soper 84 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
38 Chuck Hossfeld 84 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 2
39 Anthony Sesely 78 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
40 Chris Young * 76 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
41 John Beatty, Jr. 73 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
42 JR Bertuccio 72 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
43 Max McLaughlin * 70 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
44 Jacob Perry * 63 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
45 Chris Turbush * 49 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
46 Matt Brode * 48 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
47 Tom Rogers, Jr. 43 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
48 Jeremy Gerstner 42 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
49 Roger Turbush 41 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 Todd Patnode * 39 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
51 John Baker 38 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
52 Blake Barney 35 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
53 Corey LaJoie 35 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
54 Joey Coulter 34 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
55 Ryan Newman 32 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
56 Jamie Tomaino 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
57 Mike Leaty * 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
58 John Fortin 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
59 Gary Putnam 29 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
60 Steve Dickey, Jr. * 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 Eddie Brunnhoelzl 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
62 Jack Ely * 28 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
63 Andy Seuss 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
64 Paul Charette * 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
65 Bryan Dauzat 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
66 Danny Bohn 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR is continuing to investigate the cause of — and solution for — a fire under the hood of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “it’s all hands on deck” as NASCAR works with Cup Series teams and manufacturers to diagnose the mechanical failure and ensure it won’t be an issue in the maiden NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the Next Gen car that debuted this season.

“We’re certainly digging into the cause,” Miller said Tuesday morning. “We have cars down (at NASCAR’s R&D Center) this morning looking for any signs of anything that may have triggered that. And you know, we have done so all year. I mean, there’s a lot of rubber at Darlington, the ‘cheese grater’ that we always talk about, so we’re not certain if rubber getting into the rocker box was the problem or not, but we’re debriefing it all.

” … It’s unacceptable for the cars to catch on fire and we’ve been working on different solutions for different problems, different things along the way that seem to maybe be the trigger and obviously we still have work to do.”

With 92 laps remaining in NASCAR’s playoff opener at the South Carolina track, Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford Mustang caught fire while running eighth, forcing the 2014 champion to make a quick exit after pulling off the race track. He was officially scored 33rd following the race, dropping him below the playoff cutline with two races remaining in the opening Round of 16.

WATCH: Harvick’s car catches fire late

“They haven’t fixed anything. … We just let it keep going and keep going,” Harvick said after exiting the race.” The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger it started burning stuff up and I think right there you see all the brake fluid that was probably coming out the brakes and part of the brake line, but the fire was coming through the dash. What a disaster for no reason.”

Harvick’s Ford is the latest blue oval to catch fire, with recent incidents seeing Chris Buescher’s RFK Racing No. 17 (Indianapolis Road Course), Joey Logano’s Team Penske No. 22 (Indy) and Chase Briscoe’s SHR No. 14 (Richmond) among the machines to also ignite in race conditions in recent months.

“We’re looking at clearances on particularly the Ford exhaust because they seem to have been having a little bit more trouble with this than the others,” Miller said. “So there’s just there’s a lot of work going on, a lot of collaboration within the industry to get to the bottom of it, and we have to get to the bottom of it quick obviously. It’s all hands on deck with the teams and the OEMs.”

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As an eventful 2022 race season enters its final turn, NASCAR today announced the return of its Champion’s Week celebration to Nashville on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The NASCAR Awards will be held on Dec. 1 at the Music City Center to formally crown this season’s NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champions. Fellow drivers, industry personalities and celebrities will take over downtown Nashville for the third year to celebrate an unforgettable 2022 season.

“We are pleased to announce our return to Music City for the celebration to crown our series champions,” said Pete Jung, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer at NASCAR. “We are delighted to bring the celebration to Nashville once again, as the city’s energy and passion for motorsports never cease to amaze us. We are looking forward to being back following the conclusion of the 2022 season.”

The formal postseason Awards are a tradition that stretches back to 1981, when the event was held in New York City. It relocated to Las Vegas in 2009 and then called Nashville its home for the first time in 2019. Over the last two years NASCAR has seen a tremendous turnout from the Nashville fans not only at the race track, but for the celebration of Champion’s week. NASCAR looks to continue the tradition and conclude the season at one of the most iconic cities in the country.

Posted on by Zack Albert

DARLINGTON, S.C. – When Erik Jones aligned himself with the No. 43 team for the 2021 NASCAR season after a three-year stint at powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, he admitted that his close friends offered polite approval upon hearing the news, but cautiously so, he sensed. Confessions about those doubts weren’t voiced until much later, only after Jones’ place with the organization had found solid footing.

“You know, I was really nervous when you first told me about this deal,” Jones recalled a confidant saying, “and to see what you guys have done this year has really proved me wrong.”

Jones admitted to probably having some of his own misgivings, but times have certainly changed since that semi-shaky start. After a masterful Sunday drive at Darlington Raceway, Jones basked in the team’s growth into a Cup Series winner after a triumphant run in the Cook Out Southern 500.

RELATED: Playoff standings | It’s Jones in Southern 500

Jones’ connections to the car number that Richard Petty made famous were prominent celebration points. Sunday’s outcome marked the 200th win for the No. 43, which Petty fielded in 192 of his record 200 victories. And Jones said he plans to cash in on the stock-car racing king’s promise of a signature cowboy hat after he drove to the No. 43’s first Cup Series win since 2014.

All the history added up for one of the sport’s most royal of numbers, but the striking reality was that the team celebrating in Victory Lane after a grueling 500-miler had only officially launched last December. GMS Racing, which had established roots in other NASCAR national series, had intended to jump to the Cup level in 2022 as a one-car outfit with driver Ty Dillon. That all changed in its merger with the former Richard Petty Motorsports team in the offseason and a re-christening as a two-car operation under the Petty GMS Motorsports banner.

The iconic No. 43 carried over, but the newly branded organization was essentially a start-up – a point that Petty GMS competition director Joey Cohen illustrated in a Monday morning tweet, depicting the vast and vacant shop floor from July 2021 before the team had taken shape. Jones had kept his head down during an uneven 2021 campaign, his first with RPM, but this season represented an opportunity for growth in a new direction.

“Obviously I was a little in a bad spot towards the end of 2020 trying to find a new home, and the 43 car became that and took me in,” Jones said. “I knew at the start there was — it was a long-term outlook for me at least. I was like, all right, we’ve got to settle in and build and figure it out. It’s not like I just came in and did that. There’s a lot of great people that came in and were a huge part of that, to build to where we are now.

“But it’s just been cool to see, cool to be a part of. Coming from a four-car powerhouse team like I was at to what was a single-car team last year to now a two-car team this year and building into a race-winning program now has been very … probably the most rewarding of my racing career.”

Those expectations spiked early on this year. In just the season’s second race, Jones qualified on the front row at Auto Club Speedway, then backed it up with a stout third-place run. Aside from a close brush with Victory Lane at Talladega in May, the No. 43’s performance tapered off after that Auto Club podium, and the team regrouped to boost its efforts on intermediate-sized tracks.

“Throughout that time, Erik never really got down on us,” said No. 43 crew chief Dave Elenz, one of the organization’s key offseason hires. “He kept giving us guidance, kept giving us direction to keep building that program better, which I feel we have.”

Credit part of the team’s breakthrough to Jones’ knack for navigating the treacherous South Carolina oval, which also produced his final win with Gibbs back in 2019. But also tip the cap to Jones’ valuable feedback and support as the team tried to plant Cup Series roots and expand its resources, all while adapting to the challenge of the new next-generation car. Besides his natural driving ability, it’s a big reason why Petty GMS moved to re-sign him to a multiyear extension in July to keep that momentum rolling.

“A lot of credit to him,” Cohen said. “He’s our senior leader. He’s our guy that is going to lead the engineers, lead the crew chief, lead our guys to work on the car as to what he needs.”

MORE: At-track photos: Darlington

On a night that threw plenty of obstacles at the 16 playoff contenders, Jones found relatively steady sailing in the opening event of the 10-race postseason. His No. 43 Chevy was a consistent top-five runner, and when primary competitors Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch both dropped out within a 10-lap span in the late going, Jones pounced.

“I was like, holy cow, this is a gift from above, right?” he said. “I felt like it’s a sign. I can’t give it up at this point. I’ve never had anything like that happen in my racing career.”

That series of events was fortunate, but Jones was reminded of how timely his first victory of the year could have been if it had occurred a week earlier. A win in the regular-season finale at Daytona would have opened the door into the Cup Series Playoffs.

Settling – if you can call it that – for being a two-time Southern 500 winner and providing Petty GMS with a crown-jewel moment will have to do.

“Yeah, it’s hard to get attention in the playoffs when you’re not a playoff guy,” Jones said. “What better way to do it than that?”

Posted on by Zack Albert

Editor’s note: Daniel Suárez will be spotlighted in USA Network’s new unscripted series “Race for the Championship” airing this fall. The second episode is Thursday, Sept. 8, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

____

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Daniel Suárez opened the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at Darlington Raceway with an up-and-down day, one that was marked by two penalties and a warning to one of his postseason foes.

Suárez settled for 18th place in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500, with his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet scored as the final car on the lead lap. He’s also the final driver above the cutline in the playoff picture, ahead by just two points after the opening event in the 10-race postseason.

RELATED: Darlington results | Playoff standings

The first of the two penalties had its origins in Saturday’s inspection line, when the No. 99 Camaro failed three passes in pre-qualifying tech. That meant a last-place starting spot in the 36-car field, plus a pass-through penalty shortly after the green flag. Suárez quickly regained the lead lap, benefiting as the free pass when a brief rain shower forced a caution period after five green-flag laps.

Suárez moved forward after that, netting stage points after the second segment and racing into the top five at one point. But his second penalty came when he sped on pit road on Lap 273 out of 367, and he never quite rallied all the way back.

“There were a lot of positives today, but definitely some negatives as well,” Suárez said. “We were able to overcome the issues fairly quickly. I would say that probably Stage 1, it took the entire Stage 1 to be able to recover. And then after that, I felt like we were fine. I felt like we were a car capable of running in the top five, and then on that green-flag stop, I just sped on pit road. It was very, very tight. But anyway, that was my bad. It was on my end, and we have everything cleaned up. But overall, like I said, there’s a lot of positive things. The car had good speed, and the guys did a good job, pit crew did an amazing job. We just have to continue to build.”

But Suárez’s other takeaway was making a note of how he was raced during a Lap 227 jam-up through Turns 1 and 2. Suárez’s car was squeezed in a contest for position with fellow playoff drivers Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. It was Bell, who continued on to finish fifth, who drew the ire of Suárez.

“With the 22 (Logano), I don’t remember. I don’t think we had contact with him. For sure, with the 20 (Bell),” Suárez said. “He owes me one. I will decide when to get that one back because it shouldn’t have happened like that. He hit me pretty good. I feel lucky that actually I was able to continue. I hit the wall very, very hard, and I lost like five positions on that stage. I will get him back eventually, but I mean that just tells you how smart are some drivers. This is only Round 1, it’s the first race and we’re racing like that. We weren’t even in Stage 3 yet. But it is what it is. I can only control the 99 car.”

RELATED: How Darlington shook up the playoffs

As for the timing of that vowed retaliation, Suárez was noncommittal.

“Whenever I need, I’m gonna get him back,” Suárez said. “I’m not saying that it’s gonna be in Kansas or Bristol, but it’s definitely … he owes me one, and I’m gonna save that for later.”

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, Sept. 5
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock

Tuesday, Sept. 6
12:01 a.m., Race for the Championship: Dawn of a New Era (re-air), USA Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Talladega (re-air), FS1
10:08 p.m., Race for the Championship: Dawn of a New Era (re-air), USA Network

Wednesday, Sept. 7
6 p.m., NASCAR America Motormouths, Peacock

Thursday, Sept. 8
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, Peacock
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Best of Radioactive — Kansas (re-air), FS1
8 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Rust-Oleum Automotive Finishes 100 at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (re-air), MAVTV
10 p.m. ET, Race for the Championship: David vs. Goliath, USA Network

Friday, Sept. 9
12:06 a.m., Race for the Championship: Dawn of a New Era (re-air), USA Network
1:06 a.m., Race for the Championship: David vs. Goliath (re-air), USA Network
3 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Qualifying at Kansas Speedway, FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Qualifying at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Camping World Truck Series at Kansas Speedway, FS1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway, FS1

On MRN:
7 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway

Saturday, Sept. 10
12 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS1
6 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS1
8 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS2
12 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Practice and Qualifying at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Countdown to Green at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-Race Show, USA Network
6:30 p.m., Race for the Championship: David vs. Goliath (re-air), USA Network
7 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Kansas Lottery 150 at Kansas Speedway, MAVTV POSTPONED

On MRN:
10 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Qualifying at Kansas Speedway
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway
7 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: Kansas Lottery 150 at Kansas Speedway

Sunday, Sept. 11
10 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: Kansas Lottery 150 at Kansas Speedway, MAVTV
3 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway (re-air), FS2
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Series at Kansas Speedway, FS1
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Countdown to Green at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
3 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, USA Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Post-Race Show, USA Network
7 p.m., Race for the Championship: David vs. Goliath (re-air), USA

On MRN:
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway

MORE: How to watch NASCAR International

Posted on by Staff Report

After the opening race of the Round of 16 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Darlington, here’s a look at the updated playoff picture. There are two races remaining in the Round of 16 before the field is whittled to 12, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following the Sept. 17 race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Winner

Erik Jones. Jones played the role of spoiler Sunday night, winning his second career Cook Out Southern 500 as playoff drivers faltered around him. Jones is the first non-playoff driver to win the postseason opener in the elimination era, and he is the 17th NASCAR Cup Series winner this year.

RELATED: Unofficial results

Who’s hot

Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is one of the best in the business at Darlington, and he finished second to Jones on Sunday — and therefore was the highest-finishing playoff driver. A late strategy to pit later in the run seemed like it may have been a misfire initially, but a late caution put Hamlin running at the very front of the field in the closing laps.

Joey Logano. Logano won the Busch Light Pole on Saturday and then nabbed fourth place Sunday, leading 64 laps in the process. He was able to avoid any potential payback by William Byron following their incident at Darlington in the spring, and he exited the race as the new series points leader.

Who’s not

Chase Elliott. The Regular Season Champion and prohibitive title favorite had the worst start imaginable to his 2022 postseason. Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet snapped into a spin on Lap 113, riding up the track and into the wall and then being smashed by Chase Briscoe’s No. 14. The end result? A last-place finish, a one-point night and plenty of worry for the remaining two Round of 16 races.

Kyle Busch. The close of the Southern 500 was an absolute gut-punch to Busch and the No. 18 team. “Rowdy” led a race-high 155 laps and had the most dominant car remaining in the field following the last caution of the night. Stunningly, the No. 18’s engine appeared to blow up during the ensuing caution laps prior to the final restart of the race. He finished 30th.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank Driver Cutoff
9. Chase Elliott +14
10. Alex Bowman +10
11. Kyle Busch +8
12. Daniel Suárez +2
——– ELIMINATION LINE ———-
13. Austin Cindric -2
14. Austin Dillon -4
15. Chase Briscoe -10
16. Kevin Harvick -13

Next race

The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sept. 11 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This is the first time Kansas will be the second race in the Round of 16.

Who it favors

Denny Hamlin. In the last 10 races at Kansas, only one driver has more than one victory — and that’s Hamlin with two. In fact, he has four top-five finishes in the last six races at Kansas, including a fourth-place run earlier this year in the Next Gen car’s debut at the track.

Who it hurts

Chase Briscoe. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has just three starts at Kansas in the Cup Series level, and his average finish is 21.0. His best finish is 19th last fall, and he did not finish on the lead lap in two of those three races.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DARLINGTON, S.C. – In a race that had more twists and turns than a Victorian melodrama, Erik Jones put the vaunted No. 43 Chevrolet back in Victory Lane for the first time since 2014.

In the season’s first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race, Jones held off Denny Hamlin in a 20-lap run to the finish to win the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway for the second time.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The Sunday night race took its toll on more than a handful of playoff drivers, as Jones became the first non-playoff driver to win the first postseason event since NASCAR introduced the elimination format in 2014.

The victory was Jones’ first of the season, the third of his career, and the first for Petty GMS Racing since that organization was formed by merger before the 2022 campaign. The win was No. 200 for the 43 car number, which NASCAR Hall of Famer and car owner Richard Petty drove to seven series championships.

“Richard hasn’t been to Victory Lane at Darlington probably since he last won here,” said Jones, referencing Petty’s 1967 victory in the Southern 500. “It’s just awesome. Just so proud of these guys, Petty GMS and (sponsor) FOCUSFactor crew.

“We’ve been so close all year, and I didn’t think today was going to be the day. It was going to be a tough one to win, I knew, but no better fitting place. I love this track. I love this race. On that trophy twice, man. I was pumped to be on it once, but to have it on there twice — pretty cool.”

The victory was the first in the Cup Series for crew chief Dave Elenz. Jones won his first Southern 500 in 2019 driving for Joe Gibbs Racing but was released after the 2020 season in favor of Christopher Bell. On Sunday night, Jones held off a former teammate in Hamlin, who ran out of time in his pursuit of Jones and finished in the runner-up spot, 0.252 seconds behind the race winner.

“Well, I mean, I never lost any belief in myself through any of it,” Jones said. “I knew I could still do it, and I just knew we needed to grow the program to do it, and we have. We’ve brought on a lot of great people in the last year. Dave Elenz called a great race today. His first Cup win — that’s pretty cool for him.

“I’m excited, man. We’ve been talking about this day a long time, and it is redemption in a lot of ways. Very fitting that it’s here at this race again. I felt like this was the race that saved my job the first time around, and coming back here with this win, I guess it puts you back on the map.”

Tyler Reddick ran third, followed by pole winner Joey Logano, who vaulted to the top of the playoff standings, six points clear of second-place William Byron, who finished eighth on Sunday.

Jones got his chance at the front of the field when Kyle Busch, who had led a race-high 155 laps, suffered a blown engine as he prepared for the final restart. Busch had inherited the top spot when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., suffered a similar failure on Lap 333 of 367.

MORE: Busch’s dominant day derailed

But those retirements barely scratched the surface of the drama that unfolded throughout the race. Disaster befell Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Larson and his team accomplished an amazing salvage job.

And the playoff picture remained just as uncertain as it had been entering the grueling 500-mile contest at “The Lady in Black.”

After a catastrophic playoff opener, Elliott, the Regular Season Champion, is the series leader no more.

Elliott spun sideways in Turn 2 on Lap 113 — two laps short of the end of Stage 1 — cracked the back of his No. 9 Chevrolet and slid down the track into the path of Chase Briscoe, who couldn’t avoid the collision.

Elliott nursed his car to pit road where his team tried in vain to repair the damage, but with the right-rear toe link and upper and lower control arms broken, the task was hopeless. The 10-minute time allotment under NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy ran out, and Elliott retired from the race in last place (36th).

The 15-point advantage Elliott carried into the playoffs was gone. Elliott scored the minimum one point for his efforts at Darlington and fell to ninth in the playoff standings, 14 points ahead of 16th-place finisher Austin Cindric in 13th.

“I just hit the wall in (Turns) 1 and 2 and broke something in the right-rear,” Elliott said succinctly. And how would he approach the next playoff race at Kansas Speedway? “A lot better than we did today.”

A solid run by 2014 series champion Harvick went up in flames on Lap 275. As he lost speed while running ninth, Harvick radioed to his crew, “My rocker panel’s on fire.”

Flames erupted on both sides of the car. Harvick parked the No. 4 Ford on the apron and scrambled from his smoke-filled cockpit. Harvick exited the race in 33rd place and dropped to the bottom rung of the playoff standings, 13 points below the current cut line.

Larson, the reigning series champion, brought his car to pit road on Lap 79, sensing his engine was about to expire. He lost three laps as his team worked under the hood of the No. 5 but returned to the track and the “gremlins” disappeared after a few laps.

Using wave-arounds and his status as beneficiary under caution to advantage, Larson regained the lead lap and finished 12th, averting a major hit in the standings.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Jones as the winner of the event.

Notes: The last driver to win a race in the No. 43 was Aric Almirola, who took the car to Victory Lane on July 6, 2014 at Daytona … Logano led the first 37 laps from the pole and 64 overall, but an issue with the left-front tire cost him valuable time during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 75. He never regained the track position he lost. … Ross Chastain lost a lap when he returned to pit road for an unscheduled stop on Lap 160 to address a loose wheel. He finished 20th, one lap down. … Cindric, Austin Dillon, Briscoe and Harvick are the four drivers below the current cut line with two races left in the Round of 16.


Posted on by Zack Albert

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Busch was just 23 laps away from a potential statement victory Sunday night, a so-close clinching win at rough-hewn Darlington Raceway that would’ve pushed his Joe Gibbs Racing team into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Then the smoke started puffing from his No. 18 Toyota.

“We’re blowing up,” Busch said through his in-car communications.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

After leading a race-best 155 laps, Busch pulled to the apron and then pit road. The engine woes shorted out his dominant run in the Cook Out Southern 500 and saddled him with a crushing 30th-place finish in the postseason opener. It was also a missed opportunity, not just for the playoff implications but in the context of his season, where a Darlington win would have steered the headlines away from the contract uncertainty that’s hounded him this year.

“Real proud of the guys for their fight,” Busch said. “The guys on pit road tonight were awesome. So I had a lot of fun being up front, leading laps like that, being able to show what we’re made of. I just hate that we can’t finish with the points we need.”

Busch offset some of the dent in the standings with precious stage points — placing third and first at the respective breaks. But he’ll enter next Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) sitting 11th in the Cup Series standings, just eight points up on the cut line.

Busch battled through a wall scrape late in the first stage, and he took the lead for the first time on the 118th of 367 laps. That leap up the scoring pylon came thanks to snappy service by his No. 18 pit crew, setting the tone for much of the evening.

Busch led for sizable chunks of the race’s midsection, his time up front interrupted by pit-stop cycles and the spurts of speed from teammate Martin Truex Jr., who had just missed the playoff field. Truex had made his own bid to play postseason spoiler with 48 laps led, but his power steering went sour, then his water pump belt gave out and the temperatures spiked under the hood of his No. 19 Camry.

Truex retired 31 laps from the finish, seemingly leaving Busch in a prime position. Busch lasted just nine laps longer.

“There’s no words,” Busch said. “Just oh well, I guess. You know, life goes on.”

No. 18 crew chief Ben Beshore joined his crew in peering under the hood to diagnose the issue, simultaneously as the No. 19 was being loaded on the team hauler. A Toyota representative said later that the preliminary indication on the No. 18’s issue was a full valvetrain failure.

Beshore said there was some consolation to be had in the performance, which netted Busch his most laps led in a race this season.

“If you’re looking for stuff to take away tonight, I guess that’s it,” Beshore told NASCAR.com. “The pit crew was dominant, and we were just keeping the balance close. I mean, Truex was gonna walk away with the thing and we were gonna be fortunate that they had a problem, and then we had a problem. So yeah, tough night overall, but we’ve got a really solid team here, another intermediate (track) coming up next week that’s somewhat similar, so we can go do the same thing again next week.”