NASCAR betting: Martin Truex Jr. sees short odds to sweep at Darlington

Posted on September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 by Marcus DiNitto

There was point earlier this season at which Martin Truex Jr. was the NASCAR Cup Series’ dominant driver. In a 10-race stretch from late February at Homestead through early May at Darlington, Truex tallied eight top-nine finishes, including three wins and two more top-five finishes. The two outliers were the dirt race at Bristol and the superspeedway of Talladega.

The betting market, of course, took notice, pricing the No. 19 Toyota as the clear favorite for what turned out not to be the 11th race in Truex’s impressive early-season run. He started on the pole at Dover that day but finished 19th, and he’s yet to return to Victory Lane since the Goodyear 400, the season’s first race at Darlington.

But as the circuit returns to the South Carolina track this weekend, so to does the market’s respect for Truex, who is priced as the second betting choice to win Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the first event of the 10-race Cup Playoffs. Truex sees odds in the +450 to +550 range at sportsbooks around the country.

Favorite status, to no one’s surprise, belongs to Kyle Larson, offered for +325 at Barstool Sportsbook and +300 at BetMGM and WynnBET.

Getting the NASCAR playoffs started with three straight races on tracks that employ the 750-horsepower, low-downforce package bodes well for Truex. All three of his wins his seasons have come on such layouts (Phoenix, Martinsville, Darlington), and as pointed out by our friend Jim Sannes, he’s led the pack for a good portion of these races.

Among drivers +800 or shorter to win this week, laps led at ovals using the 750-horsepower package:

1. Martin Truex Jr. (581)
2. Kyle Larson (528)
3. Denny Hamlin (525)
4. Kyle Busch (33)

— Jim Sannes (@JimSannes) September 2, 2021

In a matchup prop available at Barstool, Truex is a +125 underdog to Larson (-167).

Since his most recent win, Truex has not been a model of consistency. Bettors have to weigh this reality against his excellent short-track record.

Around the garage

Kyle Busch. Another takeaway from Sannes’ above tweet: the massive drop-off in laps led on 750-hp ovals from Truex, Larson and Hamlin to Kyle Busch. While Busch (+650) is priced a tick higher than Hamlin (+600) at Barstool and Wynn, he’s +600 at BetMGM to Hamlin’s +700.

Busch’s season got off to a slow start, and his 247 total laps led rank a distant ninth. But the No. 18 Toyota has been among the best on the circuit since his win at Kansas in May, and his record on intermediate tracks is stellar. In 46 races on these layouts since 2018, Busch boasts a series-leading 7.59 average finish and a strong 105.5 driver rating.

Ryan Blaney. Blaney looks for his third consecutive Cup Series victory Sunday, but the betting market is dubious on his chances. The No. 12 Ford is priced at +2000 at BetMGM, +2200 at Barstool and WynnBET, and an eye-opening +4000 at SuperBook USA. He’s longer than either of his of his Team Penske garage-mates on every oddsboard.

Blaney, though, has been consistent on 750-hp ovals this season, with finishes of (10th, 11th, 11th, 8th, 12th, 37thand 5th).

While a win appears unlikely for Blaney, a solid showing does not. At WynnBET, Blaney is offered at +275 for a top-five finish and -125 for a top 10.

Kevin Harvick. Another week, another track on which Harvick has seen plenty of success. He’s a consensus +1000 to avoid another week without a win.

Harvick has finished in the top five, including two wins, in the six races at Darlington since 2018. His 3.17 average finish is tops among drivers who have competed in all six and his 113.2 driver rating is second-best to Truex.

Handicappers should be careful with these stats, however. Those two recent Darlington wins both came in 2020, when the 550-hp, high-downforce package was used on the track.

Similar to Blaney, though, “Happy” has demonstrated consistency on 750-hp ovals this season, driving the No. 4 Ford to six top-10 finishes in the seven races (we’re excluding the Bristol dirt from this analysis).

Barstool offers +135 odds on a Harvick top-five finish Sunday, and for those willing to lay the wood, a fair -240 on a top 10.

As an indication of the market’s unwavering respect for the 2014 Cup champion, SuperBook USA prices a Harvick vs. Chase Elliott matchup prop as a coin flip, with -110 juice on either side.

Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 by Zach Sturniolo

Bobby Santos III is a racer at heart.

Long before the third-generation driver out of Franklin, Mass., became the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, Santos quite literally had motorsports in his blood thanks to his grandfather, Bob Santos, as well as his dad, Bob Santos Jr., who both were wheelmen in their own rights.

His grandfather, Bob Santos, was a modified racer across New England, while Santos Jr. raced in other classes at local tracks like Thompson Speedway, Seekonk Speedway and Stafford Motor Speedway.

By the time Santos III came into the picture, there was no doubt his future was likely going to be behind a steering wheel.

“I guess I was about 2-years-old in my backyard, my dad had me riding around in a go kart,” Santos recalled. “And then the first actual race car I drove was a quarter midget at four-years-old.”

The racing bug bit Santos hard and he dictated to his life’s dream: racing at the highest level of NASCAR. But before he could get there, he knew he needed to cut his teeth in the northeast racing scene – and there was nothing he loved more than the Whelen Modified Tour.

That’s where Santos found the brunt of his success. In addition to his 2010 title run, Santos has 19 career wins on the tour, 54 top fives and 82 top 10s in 150 starts. Almost all 19 of his victories have come on the tour’s most storied tracks – six at both New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Stafford, five at Thompson and even a triumph at Martinsville Speedway where he brought home a storied grandfather clock.

“It means everything,” Santos said of the tour. “That’s what I grew up [with]. I grew up going to Thompson and Stafford watching Ted Christopher, Mike Stefanik. Teddy was was my favorite growing up and watching guys like him, Reggie Ruggiero, that whole group of guys growing up. I mean that’s the people I looked up to, the racing that I looked up to.

“So to be successful on the tour, it means a lot. I mean as far as I’m concerned, I know there’s other modified groups and series that run in the northeast, but from my standpoint, the way I look at it, when I want to race a modified, I want to race on the tour. I want to race against the best. I want to race against Doug Coby and Justin Bonsignore. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best equipment and the best guys. Those are the people that I want to race because if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

A month from his 36th birthday, Santos realizes his hopes of chasing the upper echelon of stock-car racing are dwindling. He made six NASCAR Xfinity Series starts between 2007-2012 as well as a Camping World Truck Series start at Loudon in 2011, but Santos never had the proper funding for a quality ride to showcase his abilities.

If the right opportunity fell Santos’ way to get back into one of NASCAR’s three national touring series, Santos said he would “absolutely do it.” But the realist within him is totally content with where life has taken him.

“Because of timing or money or for whatever reasons, it never really worked out that I got to where I want it to be with [NASCAR],” Santos said. “But I am lucky enough now that I actually do race for a living.”

Santos has only made a handful of starts per year on the modified tour since last running the full schedule in 2016, but he’s kept himself plenty busy in USAC sprint cars, super modifieds and more in the interim.

“The biggest thing I’m doing that [I’ve] been able to make a living doing is the sprint car stuff,” Santos said. “And I work full time in the shop taking care of those cars, so I guess [I’m] not just racing for a living, but working on race cars is basically what I get to do.”

Santos’ passion for motorsports is evident. So what advice would he give a kid in New England eager to chase a dream in racing?

“Just go to the track and learn it and watch it,” he said. “And watch the right people and watch the right guys. Fortunately for me, I have my dad behind me and supported me since I was 4 years old right up to this day, traveling the country, helping me at the racetrack and working on race cars. It definitely takes a good support system with family and the right people around you and a lot of hard work.

“I think what’s enabled me to continue to race and at least make a living at the level I’m at is that my dad taught me how to work on the cars and understand the cars and have knowledge of the race cars when I was little. And that put me in the position to have the job that I have now, working on race cars. If I didn’t understand the cars that I’m driving, then I wouldn’t have the job that I have working on them.”

Santos is set to rejoin the modified tour for three of the final four races of the 2021 season: Oswego Speedway on Saturday, Richmond Raceway on Sept. 10 and the season finale at Stafford on Sept. 25.

Live coverage of the Toyota Mod Classic 150 on Saturday can be found at 7:30 p.m. ET on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold and tape delayed on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Posted on September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 by Staff Report

As the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heads to Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway (Saturday, September 4, at 7:30 p.m. ET on TrackPass) for the second time this season, two-time and defending series champion Justin Bonsignore holds a narrow eight-point lead over Patrick Emerling in the title fight with four races remaining in the season.

The duo took control of the points standings following the fourth race of the season at Jennerstown (Pennsylvania) Speedway – a race won by Bonsignore – and quickly ran away as the two championship contenders. At the time, Emerling held a one-point advantage, and neither has allowed any other drivers into the championship talk since.

A quick glance at the stats shows why the two have separated themselves. They each have nine top-10 finishes in the 10 races contested thus far, with Bonsignore putting together eight top fives and a win, compared to seven top-five finishes and two wins for Emerling. And since Jennerstown, they have finished in consecutive finishing positions three times – including a one-two result at New York International Raceway in Lancaster, that was won by Emerling.

In the series’ first visit of the season to Oswego Speedway in June, Emerling finished third while Bonsignore was fourth.

Bonsignore entered the Whelen Modified Tour’s most recent race at Beech Ridge (Maine) Motor Speedway with the largest advantage between the two to date – 12 points. However, a third-place effort by Emerling coupled with an eighth-place result for Bonsignore cut four points off the lead, landing Emerling within eight points (413 to 405) heading into this Saturday night’s showdown.

Bonsignore is chasing his third Whelen Modified Tour championship after winning two of the past three. He broke up a four-year run of titles by Doug Coby with his win in 2018, then sandwiched another Coby championship in 2019 (his sixth overall) by taking last year’s series championship.

Emerling is looking to cap off a breakout season with his first title. He had only tallied one series win in his previous 10 seasons (2017 at Bristol Motor Speedway) and his seven top-five finishes this year are a career-best.

Following Oswego, the series heads to Richmond Raceway on Friday, September 10. They then return north to wrap up the season with a stop at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway and the season finale at Stafford (Connecticut) Motor Speedway for the third stop of the year at the famed short track.

Patrick Emerling will look for his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in the final four races to go. (Bryan Bennett/NASCAR)

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Zach Sturniolo

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs are here and kick off with one of the sport’s crown-jewel events: the Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With 16 drivers set to begin their fight for a championship, it’s time to preview what makes Darlington “Too Tough to Tame,” who to watch and much more:

TO THE GREEN

Coming off his first set of back-to-back race wins, Ryan Blaney has earned pole position for the Southern 500. Alongside him on the front row will be two-time Southern 500 winner Denny Hamlin, while former Cup champions Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott make up Row 2. Check out the entire starting lineup here.

RULES PACKAGE

The lower-downforce, 750-horsepower package will be used this weekend at Darlington Raceway. Shorter spoilers and front splitters minimize the aerodynamic dependency on the race cars while more power means drivers have more input using the throttle.

PARTIAL REPAVE

A 600-feet long, 32-feet wide segment of asphalt was repaved in Turn 2 following years of needed attention after race weekends at Darlington. With the addition of a second event to its yearly schedule, the track’s leadership determined it was time to address the issues head on.

“We’ve been nursing that part of the race track for several years now,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, in a Monday appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “(It was) old asphalt, and there comes a point like we got to with what’s going on at Atlanta right now where you just can’t feel good about the surface and potentially breaking up on the weekend. So that section of the track has been a bit problematic for a while now, and it was just time to fix it so we could avoid any problems with the track breaking up or pieces coming out.”

HISTORY OF THE LADY IN BLACK

— Darlington held its first race on Sept. 4, 1950, the 21st race in Cup Series history and 13th of the 1950 season.

— Darlington native Harold Brasington leased cotton and peanut farmland on the west side of town from his friend Sherman Ramsey in 1949 to build the raceway. He created an egg-shaped oval with one corner tighter, narrower and more steeply banked because he promised Ramsey that the new track wouldn’t disturb his minnow pond at the west end.

— Sunday’s race marks the third playoff race Darlington has hosted and second consecutive playoff opener.

— Of the last 12 Darlington winners, 11 were age 34 or older.

— Six drivers have gotten their first career win at Darlington, the most recent of which was Regan Smith in 2011.

— There have been five last-lap passes for the victory at Darlington, most recently Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch in 2003.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

Goodyear will supply teams with the same tire compound used since 2019 on Darlington’s notoriously abrasive surface. Tire management is critical at this 1.366-mile oval and those who conserve early are often rewarded later in a green-flag run.

“The abrasive track surface puts the onus on drivers to manage their tires and team members to keep up with the track and perform fast and consistent pit stops throughout a long race,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.

Despite all the aged and rough asphalt, though, fresh pavement in Turn 2 may provide an added twist in how tires react, according to 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch.

“I think the tire is made for the older asphalt, so to me the fresher asphalt will be free grip,” Busch said during his playoff media availabilities. “It’s a matter of slip-sliding into the asphalt, grabbing it, and then having the car straight launch out of the asphalt and back onto the older stuff. A lot of eyeballs will be watching the preliminary races, because we will have no practice and we will just have to go for it.”

DARLINGTON STORYLINES

— Joe Gibbs Racing (three) and Stewart-Haas Racing (two) have won each of the last five races at Darlington.

— JGR has won six of the last 11 Darlington contests and has not gone more than one race between wins at the track too tough to tame since 2011-12.

— Martin Truex Jr.’s May 2021 victory was the only time a stage winner has won at Darlington. Truex swept both stages.

— In five of the last nine Darlington events, the race winner has led 35 or fewer laps.

— Ryan Blaney has won each of the last two Cup Series races, the only repeat winner in the last nine events.

— Toyota has six wins this year but one in the last 14 races.

— A stage winner has not won each of the last five races.

— Kevin Harvick has won at least one playoff race in each of the last nine seasons, the longest active streak. The longest streak all-time is 13 seasons set by Jimmie Johnson.

— Only one of the last 31 playoff races was won by a non-playoff driver.

Source: Racing Insights

ODDS TOO TOUGH TO TAME

Despite winning the spring race this year, Martin Truex Jr. is not the favorite entering the 2021 Southern 500, according to BetMGM. That honor goes to Kyle Larson at 3-1 odds, just over Truex’s 5-1 chances.

Behind them, Kyle Busch (6-1), Denny Hamlin (7-1) and Chase Elliott (9-1) have earned quite the respect from Las Vegas entering this weekend’s grueling event.

Darlington is a track where the sport’s best typically triumph. But as always, there are drivers flying under the radar who may be worth considering when putting money on the line.

For example, Erik Jones won the Southern 500 in 2019 and had a strong car in May until a tire failure dropped him through the field. In Jones’ seven tries, May marked his only Darlington finish outside the top 10. And at 150-1 odds, putting a little cash on him wouldn’t hurt.

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out the playoff version of NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now and offers a fresh start for those of you who played the regular-season contest. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.

The 2021 Fantasy Live points leaders are Kyle Larson (1,013), Denny Hamlin (1,005) and Chase Elliott (881).

This year, NASCAR.com also has the Playoffs Grid Challenge game, presented by Ruoff Mortgage, where you can pick the winners for each round of the playoffs right up through the Championship 4. First prize is $10,000.

RELATED: Fantasy advice | How to play: Playoffs Grid Challenge | Playoff Fantasy Live

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

New for this season, NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

And finally, head over to the NASCAR Mobile App for AR Racing presented by Mobil 1, where you can design your own car and race the playoff drivers at the playoff tracks in augmented reality.

Posted on September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 by Staff Report

NASCAR Mobile AR Racing returns for the 2021 NASCAR Playoffs, giving fans a chance to design and compete with their race car in augmented reality on the NASCAR Mobile App. This year’s game is sponsored by Mobil 1 and has some new features:

— All playoff tracks and playoff drivers will be unlocked and available at launch.

— Tracks will take on the same look and feel as their real-life counterparts (for example, night racing at Darlington Raceway).

— Fans will have the option of running a Mobil 1 paint scheme on their Chevrolet, Ford or Toyota by clicking on the Mobil 1 logo.

The game will be available on NASCAR Mobile for IOS and Android and features two modes:

— Practice mode: Drive around for fun and get used to how your car handles at each track.

— Game mode: Compete against the playoff drivers with a difficulty level based on playoff level 1-16. Here you will earn points and move up the leaderboard.

How to play? Fans can play by opening the NASCAR Mobile App and clicking on the AR Racing game banner on the homepage. Next, they will be prompted to scan their environment with phone and place a 3D-version of their favorite track anywhere to start racing.

Don’t delay, start playing NASCAR Mobile AR Racing today.

Posted on September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 2, 2021) – Following a brief collaboration earlier this season, NASCAR and I AM ATHLETE, the fastest-growing, athlete-led media platform, today announced the launch of new content partnership focused on spotlighting the sport’s most interesting athletes, personalities and storylines.

I AM ATHLETE – NASCAR will explore the sport’s culture and fan experience across 16 video episodes and premiere on the show’s YouTube channel early this fall.

The partnership is the first sports league deal for I AM ATHLETE, founded by former NFL All-Pro Brandon Marshall.

“NASCAR is a dynamic sport that has a tremendous opportunity to engage new and diverse audiences,” said Marshall. “We see I AM ATHLETE as an amazing vehicle to help NASCAR build exposure and introduce its athletes and experiences to new communities of fans.”

After featuring Bubba Wallace as a guest in March, I AM ATHLETE launched four NASCAR-themed episodes as part of an explorative collaboration in May. The one-hour shows featured 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Dale Earnhardt Jr., two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, Arab-American driver Toni Breidinger and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Pit Crew Development Program – and their success provided a launchpad for the new partnership.

“The formula that Brandon’s created aligns remarkably well with a sport like ours that has no shortage of compelling stories and personalities,” said Tim Clark, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. “Through this partnership, we’re able to showcase NASCAR’s stars and the overall experience in an authentic and entertaining way that also helps us build connections with important new audiences.”

Earlier today, I AM ATHLETE and NASCAR released a teaser video featuring Marshall and co-host Chad Ochocinco at Daytona International Speedway for last week’s NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale. Marshall and other I AM ATHLETE talent will anchor I AM ATHLETE – NASCAR, conduct deep-dive interviews with NASCAR athletes and take viewers behind the scenes at racetracks to chronicle the race-day fan experience.

All 16 episodes of I AM ATHLETE – NASCAR will be available on the I AM ATHLETE YouTube Channel. The series will be produced by NASCAR Productions in collaboration with I AM ATHLETE in Charlotte, N.C.

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Reid Spencer

Defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed started the 2021 Playoffs where he left off in 2020 —with a victory.

Creed’s decisive win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway last weekend ensured his advancement to the Round of 8 in the postseason, as the other nine Playoff drivers scramble to secure the remaining seven positions in that round.

Creed bagged the first of his two victories this season at Darlington in May, and he’s enthused about the series’ return for Sunday’s In It to Win It 200 at the 1.366-mile track (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Sunday’s event is the ninth Truck Series race at the Lady in Black and the first playoff contest at the track since the series adopted the postseason playoff format in 2016.

“Winning at Gateway to open the Round of 10 was a huge confidence booster for our No. 2 team,” Creed says. “I’m excited to return to Darlington this weekend because this track fits my style perfectly.

“We had the dominant truck last year, but it got away from us, so winning there earlier this season made it seem like we redeemed ourselves. I think we might have the truck to beat once again on Sunday, and I’m looking forward to chasing after another win.”

Ben Rhodes, who won last year’s race, is the only other previous Darlington winner in the field this week.

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Dustin Albino

Two weeks ago, it looked like Austin Cindric was going to cruise to his second consecutive Xfinity Series regular season championship. My, how things have changed.

After winning three races ago at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Cindric had an 82-point buffer on AJ Allmendinger with five races to go in the regular season. Two races later, the No. 22 team is in the hole.

Cindric won the first stage at Michigan International Speedway – a race Allmendinger won. But on the restart of the second stage, the No. 22 Ford was caught up in a big incident on the backstretch, which began when Ty Gibbs took the air off the rear spoiler of Myatt Snider, who chased his car into Cindric. The wreck collected other playoff drivers, including Justin Haley and Daniel Hemric. The No. 22 car limped around a few laps, but ultimately saw its day come to an end.

“Never give up. Just being able to get points,” Cindric said of why he stayed out despite having smoke billow from his car. “Every little bit matters. That never-give-up attitude, though, is what wins championships.”

With Allmendinger winning, the No. 16 team chopped 47 points off of Cindric’s lead, just 35 out heading into last weekend’s Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

There, too, lies a problem.

With just four laps remaining in the opening stage at Daytona, Cindric was running fourth, sitting in prime position to gain a few stage points. However, Snider gave the No. 22 car an untimely bump through the tri-oval, triggering a five-car wreck.

Cindric ended the race 39th, earning just one point on the afternoon.

“That’s two weekends in a row we’ve had race-winning capable cars and I’ve done probably a total of 40 laps in the last two weeks,” Cindric said last Saturday. “Really frustrating to have that situation play out so early. It only takes one sometimes.”

At the time of the incident, Allmendinger was running second and knew he had to go into points-racing mode.

“When I saw the [No.] 22 go out, I knew we had the opportunity to gain a lot of points,” he said. “I tried to be smart but still be aggressive.”

On the last lap, Allmendinger was in prime position to win the race, though his Kaulig Racing teammate Haley scooted by coming off of Turn 4 to score his first win of the season. The No. 16 Chevrolet finished runner-up in all three stages.

Still, it was a strong points day for Allmendinger, gaining 52 big ones on Cindric with a 99-point swing over the last two races. Heading into this Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Allmendinger is the points leader for the first time this season, 17 to the good of Cindric.

“Two races ago, I never even thought about it, so it’s pretty awesome,” Allmendinger said of his points position. “We just have to keep building fast race cars and keep doing what we need to do and finish the regular season off strong, whether that’s the Regular-Season Championship or not. Other than that, be ready for the playoffs.”

Cindric now sits second in the championship standings for the first time this season. Dating back to last season, the No. 22 team had the championship lead for the previous 25 races. Since last July at Kansas Speedway, Cindric has led the points after 38 of the past 40 races.

But now, he’s in a points battle for the next three races at Darlington, Richmond Raceway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

“We bring fast race cars, we show up and I show up prepared and felt like we had a shot to win [at Daytona] and felt like we had a shot to win [at Michigan] and most weeks,” Cindric said following Daytona. “I wouldn’t say Darlington, statistically, is my best race track, but there’s no reason why it can’t be. Richmond and Bristol, I like those two tracks. Head down and move forward.”

Between the trio of tracks to close out the regular season, the upper hand likely goes to Cindric. Though Allmendinger has a plethora of experience at the tracks in the Cup Series, he had a combined three starts in the Xfinity Series at those tracks. Cindric, however, has 17, with two second-place finishes both coming at Richmond.

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Staff Report

ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ will have a NASCAR flavor to it on Saturday as 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott will film a live segment on the show.

ESPN’s crew is in Charlotte this weekend, the home of many of the NASCAR teams and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, for the game between perennial college powers, the Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs, at Bank of America Stadium. The Dawsonville, Georgia native is expected to appear in a morning segment, and our guess is he’ll pick the Bulldogs to win.

Then it’s on to Darlington Raceway as Elliott starts defending his title in Sunday’s playoff opener, the Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Foundation and Kaulig Giving are joining together for the Foundation’s fifth annual “Speedy Bear Brigade” scheduled to take place in NASCAR race markets across the country on Thursday, Sept. 9, in celebration of National Teddy Bear Day.

The initiative has grown from 14 participating locations in its first year to more than 50 hospital locations coast-to-coast in 2021, surpassing a total of 5,700 Speedy Bears delivered to children who require a comforting teddy bear to ease the stress of their hospital stay.

“Our Speedy Bear Brigade has become an important date on The NASCAR Foundation’s calendar each year,” said Nichole Krieger, The NASCAR Foundation executive director. “We are thrilled to have our friends from Kaulig Giving join us to bring smiles to so many children when they receive their new Speedy Bear.”

Joining Kaulig Giving and the Foundation will be Kaulig Racing team owner Matt Kaulig and NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers AJ Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, and Justin Haley for special presentations at select locations.

“We’re honored to team up with The NASCAR Foundation to deliver cheer, positivity, and comfort to children in hospitals across the country with the Speedy Bear Brigade program,” said Matt Kaulig, team owner of Kaulig Racing and founder of Kaulig Giving. “Our partnership with The NASCAR Foundation is a natural fit — and very special to us as we continue to grow our relationship on and off the track. All of us share the incredible goal of impacting the communities we love by helping children in need live happier, healthier lives.”

NASCAR fans are encouraged to join the Speedy Bear Brigade by making a $25 donation to The NASCAR Foundation to sponsor a Speedy Bear and send a get-well message to a child in the hospital. As an additional incentive, Kaulig Giving will match all contributions made at NASCARfoundation.org up to $25,000.

The NASCAR Foundation is celebrating its 15th Anniversary in 2021. Since it was established in 2006, The NASCAR Foundation has donated nearly $40 million and helped over 1.4 million children in need. Proceeds from the Speedy Bear Brigade will continue these efforts, with all proceeds benefiting the Foundation’s initiatives aimed at improving the health and wellness of children in race markets across the country through its Speediatrics Children’s Fund.