Posted on by Cameron Richardson

As first impressions go, Austin Cindric definitely made a name for himself early on in the NASCAR Cup Series.

While his first start at the Cup level came before February’s Daytona 500, it was his first as a full-time driver in NASCAR’s premier series.

Cindric’s surprise Daytona 500 victory looked like a moment where the Team Penske driver inserted his name first in the hat of championship contenders. It’s no shock that the 23-year-old Cup rookie would be in the mix early given his 2020 Xfinity Series championship, and had it not been for Daniel Hemric’s move in the final turn at Phoenix Raceway to take the title by a few feet, Cindric would’ve entered the series with back-to-back Xfinity championships like Tyler Reddick in 2018 and 2019.

RELATED: Road America schedule | Cindric’s route to Daytona win

However, since adding his name to the Harley J. Earl Trophy, Cindric has gone through some rookie woes. He’s only scored three top 10s dating back to Circuit of The Americas in March.

“Some weeks are good, and some weeks are not so good,” Cindric said. “It’s somewhat of a common feeling throughout the field. You start to figure out more and more of what the car wants and then you show up one weekend and it’s completely out of your expectation.”

With the Next Gen car, Cindric said you could assign a mulligan to his rookie year with how much there is to learn but added that everyone is on a level playing field.

“The way I see it, everyone has the same challenge,” Cindric said. “It’s just as easy and just as hard to screw it up. It’s going to be the car I’m racing for quite a while, and you don’t really get to choose when you move up.”

While the numbers aren’t gaudy at the halfway point of the season, Cindric is still currently locked into the playoffs with his lone victory at Daytona, and with three more road courses on the circuit before the postseason, there are still opportunities aplenty for him to solidify his playoff position with a second win.

The Cup Series heads to Road America on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the Indianapolis Road Course at the end of July, and then Watkins Glen International on Aug. 21 — the penultimate race of the regular season.

Cindric owns Xfinity wins at all three upcoming road courses and had an average finish of 8.7 in 10 combined starts.

MORE: Cup Series standings

He’s also one of just four Cup drivers to score a top-10 finish in both road-course races this season (eighth at COTA, fifth at Sonoma). Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott — the current top trio in the Cup Series standings — are the other three.

“Road America and Indy are pretty special to me,” Cindric said.

Cindric is the lone Penske driver in the Cup or Xfinity Series to score a win at Indianapolis since Penske Entertainment Corp. bought the track in 2020. Austin’s father, Tim, serves as the principal of Team Penske.

Austin will head to Road America coming off back-to-back top 10s at Sonoma and Nashville Superspeedway but said that it doesn’t necessarily equate to momentum.

“Past success doesn’t equal future success,” Cindric said. “If you’re calling a top 10 a success, then I could just as easily as well run outside the top 10 at Road America so I’m not looking at it as a gain.

“The last couple months we’ve been able to show some consistent speed at different types of race tracks. It’s just having that consistent speed throughout the weekend that’s been the thing I’ve tried to grow and hone in on. Execution in these Cup races is everything.”

Posted on by Brandon White

There will be plenty of fireworks on display at South Boston Speedway this weekend as the facility hosting the opening round of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Since opening in 1957, South Boston has served as a hub for short track competition on the East Coast. All three of NASCAR’s top divisions have raced at South Boston, which has also hosted the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown and events for the ARCA Menards Series, NASCAR Southeast Series and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.

RELATED: Watch the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 on FloRacing

The short track culture at South Boston remains just as vibrant as ever. In the past decade alone, four track champions at South Boston in Philip Morris, Lee Pulliam, Matt Bowling and Peyton Sellers, have all gone on to claim the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series title during the same year.

Many of South Boston’s weekly competitors, including national frontrunners Sellers and Layne Riggs, will be up against a healthy contingent of Late Model Stock drivers as they look to add another chapter in the growing history of the track’s most cherished race.

Below is everything you need to know about the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.

A packed house is expected for Saturday’s 200-lap Late Model Stock feature at South Boston Speedway, which features an entry list of nearly 50 cars. (South Boston Speedway)

What TV channel is the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway on?

All of the on-track action for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Roots properties.

The racing action will not be shown on a television network.

Below is the complete schedule for FloRacing’s coverage of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Date Start time How to watch
Saturday, July 2, 2022 7 p.m. ET FloRacing

Complete schedule for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200

This year’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 2.

Four different divisions will make up Saturday’s on-track action at South Boston, including the Limited Sportsman, Pure Stock, Hornet and Late Model Stock divisions. Wrapping up the night will be the 200-lap Late Model Stock feature.

Below is the complete race-day schedule at South Boston Speedway.

Time  Event
11 a.m. ET Registration/Pit Gate/Tire Building/Tech open
12:40 p.m. ET Event production meeting
1 p.m. ET Track services meeting (Turn 1)
1:15 p.m. ET Frontstretch grandstand gates open
1:30 p.m. ET Practice/Qualifying (Pure Stocks and Hornets only)
4 p.m. ET Backstretch & Turn 3 trackside tailgating gates open
4:05 p.m. ET Driver’s meeting (Tech building)
4:30 p.m. ET Group qualifying (Limited Sportsman & Late Model Stocks)
5:15-6:15 p.m. ET Fan appreciation/Autograph session (Frontsretch)
6:35 p.m. ET Pre-race ceremonies
7 p.m. ET Races begin (Fireworks to follow)

Official format for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200

Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 will be divided into four stages.

Each stage is broken into 50-lap segments. Controlled cautions will be displayed at Laps 50 and 150, while a 10-minute halfway break at Lap 100 will allow teams to adjust their cars.

A maximum amount of 40 cars will be allowed to take the green flag and compete for a $10,000 race-winning paycheck. The top 30 starting positions are set by qualifying speed, with the remaining 10 positions being determined by a last chance qualifying race.

Below is the stage breakdown for the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.

Stage No. Laps
Stage 1 50 laps (controlled caution)
Stage 2 50 laps (10 minute halfway break)
Stage 3 50 laps (controlled caution)
Stage 4 50 laps ($10,000 race-winning paycheck)

Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 entry list

An impressive group of nearly 50 cars will attempt Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, which is one of the largest entry lists in the history of the race.

Layne Riggs and Peyton Sellers will take their national championship battle into Saturday’s 200-lapper, but both will have to contend with defending race-winner Bobby McCarty. Known for his success in Late Model Stocks around the East Coast, McCarty also enters the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 as the most recent champion of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown.

Joining the Virginia locals this weekend will be Super Late Model standout Derek Thorn, whose accomplishments also include two championships in the ARCA Menards Series West. Thorn will be piloting a Late Model Stock prepared by Steve Stallings and Marcus Richmond, the latter of whom has served as a crew chief for drivers like Noah Gragson, Ty Dillon, Dennis Setzer and Timothy Peters.

Other notable names searching for a Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 victory include defending ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Landon Pembelton, part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor Corey Heim and Carson Kvapil, who is the son of Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil and will be driving a car fielded by JR Motorsports.

Below is the complete entry list for Saturday’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200

Car No. Driver
0 Landon Pembelton
01 Camden Gullie
03 Brenden Queen
04 Larry Barrett
05 Mason Bailey
06 Terry Dease
1 Tate Fogleman
1 Danny Willis Jr.
2 Brandon Pierce
2 Christopher Denny
4 Parker Eatmon
4 Kyle Dudley
5 Carter Langley
8 Thomas Scott
8 Josh Oakley
8 Carson Kvapil
9 Trey Crews
12 Austin Thaxton
14 Jared Fryar
16 Sam Yarbrough
17 Jason Myers
17 Stacy Puryear
22 Bobby McCarty
24 Mason Diaz
25 Jacob Borst
26 Peyton Sellers
28 Jason Barnes
31 Aaron Donnelly
43 Derek Thorn
44 Conner Jones
50 Raymond Pittman
55 Mark Wertz
57 Eddie Johnson
74 Quin Houff
77 Blake Stallings
77 Connor Hall
77 Trevor Ward
78 Corey Heim
81 Mini Tyrrell
87 Mike Looney
90 John Goin
90 Terry Carroll
91 Jonathan Shafer
91 Justin Carroll
91 Chris Elliott
97 Eric Winslow
99 Layne Riggs
Several talented drivers have won the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, including past NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series champions Lee Pulliam, Philip Morris and Peyton Sellers (NASCAR)

Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 history, winners

Despite South Boston Speedway being a cornerstone of Virginia’s short track community, the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 has primarily been dominated by drivers from out of state during its brief existence.

The most successful of these drivers was Semora, North Carolina, native Lee Pulliam. The four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I National champion was unstoppable at South Boston during the early 2010s, winning six consecutive Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200s from 2011-’16.

Virginia natives have attempted to re-take control following Pulliam’s win streak. Philip Morris and Peyton Sellers kept the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 trophy inside Virginia from 2017-2019 before Summerfield, North Carolina, native Bobby McCarty broke that streak in last year’s race.

Sellers and McCarty are the only two past winners who are entered in this weekend’s Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, which presents an ideal opportunity for a new name to stamp their own legacy at the end of 200 grueling laps.

Below is the complete list of winners in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.

Year Winner
2006 Drew Herring
2007 Adam Barker
2008 Deac McCaskill
2009 Nick Smith
2010 Deac McCaskill
2011 Lee Pulliam
2012 Lee Pulliam
2013 Lee Pulliam
2014 Lee Pulliam
2015 Lee Pulliam
2016 Lee Pulliam
2017 Philip Morris
2018 Peyton Sellers
2019 Peyton Sellers
2020 Not held
2021 Bobby McCarty
Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson has been nominated for Best Driver at the upcoming 2022 ESPY Awards.

The 29-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver is the defending Cup Series champion, coming off a season in which he tallied 10 wins, 20 top-five finishes and 26 top 10s. Larson broke the record for laps led in a 36-race season with 2,581. He had an average finish of 9.1.

“It’s a great honor,” Larson said Saturday at Road America. “I know there has been a lot of NASCAR drivers to win the award, so my fingers are crossed that I can win that. That would definitely be one of the coolest awards. Just being nominated alone is a great honor. But if I was to win it and beat a F1 World Champion, as well as the other champions, that would be a great honor.

“We’ll see. I hope. Max (Verstappen) had a great year, as well as everybody else. Hopefully they consider my dirt wins, as well; because if you factor in my dirt wins, then that would give me a better shot.”

RELATED: Kyle Larson driver page

Larson was also the first driver to score 10 wins in a season since seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson accomplished the feat in 2007.

In the award’s 29-year history, NASCAR drivers have won 18 times with Johnson and Jeff Gordon earning the most at four. Kyle Busch is the most recent NASCAR driver to win the award when he did so in 2019.

Tony Stewart (three times) and Busch (twice) have also won the award multiple times, while Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett have each won once.

Going up against Larson for the award are 2021 Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen, defending IndyCar champion Alex Palou and four-time NHRA Drag Racing champion Steve Torrence.

The 2022 ESPYS will take place July 20 at 8 p.m. ET.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

The start of the Next Gen era can probably be summed up in one quick phrase — everybody is good somewhere; nobody is good everywhere.

With wins thus far at Richmond Raceway, Kansas Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and significant speed this past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway — as well as a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt race, which doesn’t quite translate anywhere else — Joe Gibbs Racing can count shorter-to-intermediate tracks among those it has dialed in for 2022.

Road courses, however, tell a different story.

The Toyota-backed organization’s results at Sonoma Raceway, where of the six competitors driving for the manufacturer Kurt Busch was the highest finisher in 18th, speak for themselves. The first road course of the season at Austin, Texas’ Circuit of The Americas did not go much better, with an average finish of 21.0 among them despite Christopher Bell’s P3.

MORE: Full Sonoma results | COTA results

“We struggled at COTA as well to be honest with raw speed and being able to be good there,” Kyle Busch said at Nashville. “In the early stage of the race, I think we were running eighth, we were fading, I got spun out by Chase Elliott running 12th, you know what I mean? So we weren’t great at COTA either, but we were able to get through some of the restarts and get positions on guys to get ourselves up front. Christopher, I think, was third or fourth. I was right with him on the last lap there. And so you know, felt like with everything that kind of ensued on the last lap, we would have had a shot to run in the top two or three, for sure.”

“But I would say both road course events so far this year were not our strong suit. Why we missed it? I don’t know. If I could answer that, we wouldn’t struggle, we wouldn’t have been bad. But talking to Martin Truex (Jr.), who tested for us at (Watkins Glen International), certainly not looking forward to going to The Glen either. They weren’t very fast there.”

For arguably the top organization of the past decade, this is not typical. 

Toyota enjoyed a total of 10 wins last year in the final season for the Gen 6 Cup Series racer, spread across essentially every size and shape of race track the tour visits — including Bell’s victory on the Daytona International Speedway road-course layout. Part of what has historically made JGR so exceptional is its seeming ability to unload fast on a weekly basis, regardless of what track it happens to be racing at that weekend. 

The silver lining here for JGR and its sister organization 23XI Racing is that they aren’t alone — every team is fighting the same battle from this regard.

The sort of hit-or-miss nature for teams just about every weekend so far may just be a product of the vast increase in parity across the board that was part of the intention in the development of the Next Gens.

“A little bit. I would argue, too, that the (Team) Penske guys weren’t great at Kansas,” Busch said. “They’ve been super strong at the flatter tracks. They’re really fast at Martinsville, Phoenix. They’ve been good. They were good at Gateway as well, too. … it seems that these teams or organizations kind of have that they’re good at these particular tracks. And so I think as we all continue to learn and grow, like, the good teams will be the good teams everywhere. But you know, it is kind of patchy right now with just getting an understanding built around this car.”

With five of its drivers currently on the right side of the playoff bubble and three of them provisionally locked in with their respective wins, there’s no need to sound the alarm bells just yet, but the road-course issue is one that Toyota would like to have ironed out over the coming weeks.

The Cup Series will turn left and right on three weekends over the next two months as the regular season wraps, starting with Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America at Road America (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

MORE: Full Cup Series schedule

Should those three races not produce the solutions and finishes JGR, 23XI and Toyota are looking for, however, it might be time to start sweating.

The season’s final road course is perhaps the most unpredictable one, with the most pressure and implications — Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval.

Busch, Bell and Denny Hamlin all finished in the top 10 there last year, but at the moment, that looks like a bit of a long shot. Given that the Roval marks the Round of 8 cutoff and calamity could spell catastrophe, you can be sure there will be plenty of emphasis placed on Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Road Course (July 31) and The Glen (August 21).

If there’s any team that has the knowledge, resources and talent to diagnose and rectify an issue like this it’s JGR, but if we’ve learned anything about the Next Gen through the season’s first half of racing … it’s no guarantee.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Over the years, Toyota Racing has had multiple young, talented prospects go through its pipeline. Next in line is Sammy Smith.

Smith currently leads the ARCA Menards Series East racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports, capturing three checkered flags in five races in 2022. He’s led 494 of 875 laps (56.5%) and hasn’t finished worse than fifth.

This year, he’s also ran a partial ARCA Menards Series schedule, dominating at Elko last weekend by leading 233 of 250 laps. In five starts, he hasn’t finished worse than third.

“It’s been a really good season so far,” Smith told NASCAR.com last week.

RELATED: Road America weekend schedule | NASCAR on TV this week

This weekend at Road America will be a new challenge for Smith, an 18-year-old from Iowa. He will make his Xfinity Series debut, driving the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, marking the first of eight races Smith has on the docket in Xfinity this season, with the remaining races coming at Pocono, Michigan, Watkins Glen, Bristol, Kansas, Martinsville and Phoenix.

Admittedly, Smith’s opportunity in the Xfinity Series has been in the works for some time. A conversation about Smith’s progression between Steve Desouza, executive vice president of JGR’s Xfinity Series program, and Kurt Smith (Sammy’s father), president of Rising Star Management Group, led to the initial thought of running Smith in Xfinity races someday.

“We’ve watched Sammy progress, and as he approached the age allowing him to race in the ARCA East Series, we developed a plan for him,” Desouza said.

Bringing sponsorship to the table certainly helps Smith’s case of getting Xfinity starts soon after turning 18 years old in early June. He brings to the table former sponsors of Michael Annett: Pilot Flying J and TMC Transportation, which have been with Smith since he raced go karts at 8 years old. Allstate Peterbilt Group will also be sponsoring the No. 18 car.

Up until this month, Smith couldn’t compete on tracks bigger than 1 mile in length due to age. He was counting down the days until he turned 18.

“I get to run the big tracks and hopefully continue to learn and work on my craft to try and be a good race car driver,” Smith said. “I feel like I’m decent on the short tracks because that’s what I grew up doing. I have a lot of confidence in those, but it’s going to be about getting used to the big tracks and the Xfinity car. Hopefully, we can run all the laps and get a win out of the eight races.”

Driving for JGR entails having some of the best equipment in the Xfinity Series on a weekly basis. Realistically, Smith knows there will be a learning curve, but isn’t ruling out a victory. After all, his JGR teammate Ty Gibbs shocked everyone in February 2021 when he won in his first Xfinity start at the Daytona road course.

Certainly, Smith has high expectations for himself and the No. 18 team, which he’s gotten to know over the last years with the ARCA and Xfinity cars coming from the same race shop.

“My goals are no different than they are now: Go out and try to lead laps, win poles, win races and do the best I can do,” he said. “I know the team will be behind me with Jason Ratcliff and the whole [No.] 18 group has been good this year and I know will bring fast race cars to the track.”

While Desouza won’t go as far as saying he expects Smith to win, he does have high expectations for the young driver, allowing him to develop in NASCAR’s second-highest division.

“Run all the laps, learn these cars, [communicate] with your team, take what the car will give you, and improve each time he is in the car,” Desouza said.

Leading up to his series debut, Smith has sought advice from 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne, who has driven the No. 18 car six times in 2022. He’s also worn out the simulator, provided by Toyota Racing Development.

Up until this year, Smith had little road racing experience. But working with Scott Lagasse in a TA2 car has given him some additional laps, particularly at the famed Wisconsin road course that he’ll see this weekend.

The final three races of the year for Smith at Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix are familiar territory. He anticipates being most comfortable on the shorter tracks, which is where his racing success has come on.

“I’m going to be learning these eight races in the Xfinity Series,” Smith said. “The team is capable of winning, I’m capable of winning; I have to learn a lot and be competitive. Being able to adapt will be the biggest thing, and I don’t think it’s going to be easy by any means. I’ve got a good mindset, so hopefully we’ll go run well.”

The eight starts also serve as another purpose, as Smith surveys the landscape for 2023. Not knowing what he’ll be driving or where he will be competing in 2023, this is a perfect opportunity.

“I think every time you step into a race car you’re getting auditioned,” he said. “You’re only as good as your last race, and these eight races are going to be tough. I take it one race at a time, and we’ll take it when it comes to the present.”

Through 15 races, the No. 18 team ranks 10th in the owners standings, earning seven top-10 finishes.

Posted on by Staff Report

It’s really more of a “when” than an “if.”

JR Motorsports co-owner and vice president Kelley Earnhardt Miller, in a call Tuesday with Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, all but confirmed a JRM entry in the NASCAR Cup Series at some point.

“We’re thinking about it every day, we’re working on it it feels like every other day. We do want to go Cup racing. We believe that that’s a good spot for us,” said Earnhardt Miller, the sister of NASCAR Hall of Famer and JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We want to stay in the Xfinity Series, too, so you know, what that looks like is certainly up for grabs.”

The timing here is interesting. Over the weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, No. 8 JRM driver Josh Berry indicated he has “a set goal of racing in a Cup car one day.” The veteran has proven to be a contender this year in the Xfinity Series and could potentially be a steady candidate to pilot a ride as the team gets its feet wet at the premier series level.

MORE: Josh Berry expresses interest in Cup Series future | 2023 Silly Season roundup

Earnhardt Miller didn’t provide a concrete timeline for when this could happen, and there are, of course, some hurdles to overcome before it becomes a reality. Still, the intention is fully there.

“The biggest barrier is that charter cost and just looking at the business model and trying to figure out sponsorship and trying to really make that leap,” she said. “I think right now, we saw it last fall where there was a high demand for charters and a lot of conversations went on and purchases went on. I don’t think there’s a lot of charters up for grabs at a reasonable cost right now, I’ll just say.

” … It’s like, when’s the right time to strike? That’s just really what we’re trying to work through and figure out. Right now, we’re focused on re-signing our guys for Xfinity for next year and re-signing our sponsors and then if we have the opportunity to do some Cup racing and kind of put our toe in the water and see. I don’t think we’ll be Cup racing full-time for 2023, that’s for certain. Unless something amazing happens and something really awesome falls out of the sky, but right now our sights are set beyond that and we’re really just trying to figure it out.”

JRM is having a sensational 2022 season in the Xfinity Series, as well. Through 16 races, the team has six wins among Justin Allgaier, Berry and Noah Gragson, including victories in five of the last seven.

Listen to the whole interview here:

Posted on by Press Release

STAMFORD, Conn. — USA Network begins its run as NBC Sports’ new cable home of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series this weekend with live race coverage from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this Saturday and Sunday, July 2 and 3, beginning at 2 p.m. ET each day.

USA Network will be the exclusive home for 23 of the next 26 NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series races through September, visiting iconic tracks such as Atlanta Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Including practice and qualifying, as well as the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series and Whelen Modified Tour, USA Network will present nearly 200 hours of NASCAR coverage in 2022.

MORE: NASCAR TV schedule

USA Network has been a top-five cable entertainment brand for more than 20 years and is widely available across cable, satellite and streaming providers, including:

  • AT&T U-verse HD: Channel 1125
  • Charter Spectrum HD: Channel 101
  • Comcast XFINITY TV HD:  Channel 823
  • Cox Contour HD: Channel 1028
  • DIRECTV HD: Channel 242
  • DISH Network HD: Channel 105
  • Verizon FiOS: Channel 550
  • Optimum: Channel 38

Channel listings may vary by market and could be updated by the provider to a different channel at any time.

USA Network is also available via most streaming services, including:

  • DirecTV Stream
  • fuboTV
  • Hulu + Live TV
  • Sling TV (Blue package)
  • Youtube TV

Earlier this year, USA Network became the cable home of premium NBC Sports events, which, in addition to NASCAR, includes coverage of the Premier League, INDYCAR, the Olympic Games, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, horse racing, cycling and more.

As in years past, coverage airing on USA Network will also stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.

Following are NBC Sports’ full 2022 NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series schedules:

NBC SPORTS 2022 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Location Platform Time (ET)
Sunday, July 3 Road America USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 10 Atlanta USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 17 New Hampshire USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 24 Pocono USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, July 31 Indianapolis Road Course NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 7 Michigan USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, August 14 Richmond USA 3 p.m.
Sunday, August 21 Watkins Glen USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 27 Daytona NBC, Peacock 7 p.m.
Sunday, September 4 Darlington USA 6 p.m.
Sunday, September 11 Kansas USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 17 Bristol USA 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, September 25 Texas USA 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 2 Talladega NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, October 9 Charlotte ROVAL NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, October 16 Las Vegas NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 23 Homestead-Miami NBC 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 30 Martinsville NBC 2 p.m.
Sunday, November 6 Phoenix NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.

 

NBC SPORTS 2022 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Location Platform Time (ET)
Saturday, July 2 Road America USA 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 9 Atlanta USA 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 16 New Hampshire USA 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 23 Pocono USA 5 p.m.
Saturday, July 30 Indianapolis Road Course NBC, Peacock 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 6 Michigan USA 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 20 Watkins Glen USA 3 p.m.
Friday, August 26 Daytona USA 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 3 Darlington USA 3 p.m.
Saturday, September 10 Kansas USA 3 p.m.
Friday, September 16 Bristol USA 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 24 Texas USA 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 1 Talladega USA 4 p.m.
Saturday, October 8 Charlotte ROVAL NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, October 15 Las Vegas NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, October 22 Homestead-Miami USA 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 29 Martinsville NBC, Peacock 3 p.m.
Saturday, November 5 Phoenix USA 6 p.m.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials issued four-week suspensions Tuesday to three crew members for the No. 17 RFK Racing team for a detached wheel during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Shortly after a final-stage pit stop, the right-rear wheel came off Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford with 46 laps left in Sunday’s Ally 400. That incident prompted the 11th of 12 caution periods in the 300-lap race, and Buescher limped back to the pits on the way to a 30th-place finish, three laps down.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Official Nashville results

The lost wheel falls under the heading of Section 10.5.2.6 in the NASCAR Rule Book. That safety violation has resulted in a four-race ban for crew chief Scott Graves and crew members Seth Gajdorus (rear tire changer) and Matthew Wilps (jack).

Competition officials also handed down $5,000 fines to the crew chiefs for four teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for lug-nut violations after Saturday’s Tennessee Lottery 250 at the Nashville oval. The following teams were penalized for each having one lug nut unsecured in a post-race check:

• No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet (crew chief Alex Bird; driver Ryan Vargas)
• No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Jason Trinchere; driver Landon Cassill)
• No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Shane Whitbeck; driver Myatt Snider)
• No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet (crew chief Michael Brandt; driver Ryan Ellis)

NASCAR officials also issued an indefinite suspension to Tony Waters for violations of the sanctioning body’s Substance Abuse Policy. Waters was listed as the hauler driver for the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports team for the Camping World Truck Series’ event last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Chase Elliott remains the current king on NASCAR’s road courses.

The 2020 champion has won seven of the last 16 Cup Series road races, a stretch that includes a trip to Victory Lane in last year’s return to Road America in the No. 9 Chevrolet.

In a small sample size, that dominance hasn’t yet carried over to the Next Gen era. Confidence remains high — rightfully so as Elliott heads back to the Wisconsin road course on the heels of a Nashville victory, his second win of 2022. But Elliott concedes his Hendrick Motorsports team is looking to maintain — or regain — its recent road-course dominance.

MORE: Elliott pulls even in title odds | Elliott’s run to Nashville checkered

“Really, I think we’re kind of back to the drawing board,” Elliott said Tuesday via Twitter Spaces. “We had a good package and a good system worked out with our other car. But really, that being out the window, we’re relearning just like everybody else. We hit on a good package with the other car back in 2016 or 2017 and started tweaking on it from there. And it took us a long time to get to where we were really happy and liked things and were really able to extract what we needed to out of the car.

“We haven’t been bad at the road courses this year, but we definitely haven’t gotten the car driving exactly like I want. We haven’t optimized every aspect of a road-race setup or a road-race event from the strategy side of it to being able to pit the car like we want to, to having the exact balance. Hopefully we get there, but I still think we have some work to do.”

The numbers still favor Elliott, whom BetMGM lists at 9-2 as the odds-on favorite to win Sunday’s Kwik Trip 250 Presented by JOCKEY (3 p.m ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). His two wins in the first 17 races this year already equal his total victories from 2021 and currently holds the top spot in both the regular-season standings and playoff grid.

MORE: How Elliott’s Nashville win pads playoff seed lead | Where he sits in Power Rankings

The postseason already has Elliott’s attention with just nine races remaining until the regular season concludes at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 27. Winning the regular-season title comes with a bonus of 15 playoff points. Elliott holds a 30-point advantage over Ross Chastain for the top spot heading into Road America with Ryan Blaney just 31 back of Elliott.

“Thirty points does not — I mean you’re two stages away from basically eliminating that entire gap,” Elliott said. “So we obviously want to add to that. And I think just like anytime when you’re racing and you’re talking about points or talking about a bigger goal individually each week, if we’re in contention to win races and you’re kind of in the mix and in the fight, the points thing’s gonna take care of itself.”

Pit strategy at road courses, however, throws a wrench into those plans. Teams often elect to forego stage points and pit ahead of the stage breaks, leaving valuable points on the table in search of the bigger prize at the end of the race — a win and five additional playoff points.

Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain (Circuit of The Americas) and Daniel Suárez (Sonoma Raceway) have swept the year’s road courses so far. Road America is the first of two road races over the next five weeks, the second coming at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on July 31. Watkins Glen International, where Elliott snagged his first Cup victory in 2018, is the last road course of the regular season on Aug. 21.

“A lot of road racing coming up,” Elliott said, “so if we don’t hit on it (at Road America), it’s a good opportunity to go in the right direction, and hopefully one of those two things happen.”

Posted on by Staff Report

News of Martin Truex Jr.’s return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 team next season came last Friday at Nashville Superspeedway in a short and sweet statement: “I’m coming back.” Monday, JGR pulled the curtain back on the moment when the 41-year-old driver shared that news with his crew.

RELATED: Truex announces return | Silly Season’s key figures

Truex, nearly midway through his 17th full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, will be back for his fifth year with Coach Joe Gibbs’ organization. In his brief address to his crew, he expressed his gratitude for his team’s effort and said, “Look forward to going out on top, hopefully.”

Truex won both stages in Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville before slipping to a 22nd-place finish. He sits seventh in the Cup Series standings, still seeking his first win of the 2022 campaign.