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nascar cup series

NASCAR cup series

www.nascar.com

NASCARCelebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

Bubba Wallace wins Brickyard 400 in double-overtime thriller

Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

SPEEDWAY, Ind.—Mother Nature wasn’t going to deprive Bubba Wallace of the most important win of his career, not on this Sunday afternoon.

Unsure of the amount of fuel left in his No. 23 Toyota, Wallace survived a rain shower and two overtime restarts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to win the Brickyard 400 presented by PPG in two overtimes he punched his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Wallace was comfortably ahead of runner-up Kyle Larson with four laps left in regulation, but the sudden shower forced NASCAR to call the fifth caution of the afternoon.

The rain was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, and after a short stoppage to dry the track, Wallace pulled ahead of Larson on the first overtime restart. A five-car accident on the backstretch, however, sent the race to a second extra period.

Wallace stayed on track for the next restart—hoping his fuel would last—again pulled away from Larson and this time took the white flag without incident. After one more circuit, he crossed the finish line 0.222 seconds ahead of Larson to claim the trophy in the Crown Jewel event.

The third victory of Wallace’s career ended a 100-race dry spell dating to Sept. 11, 2022 at Kansas Speedway. He led 30 laps, including the last 26, as the race went eight circuits beyond the scheduled 160.

“Oh, my gosh, I’m just so proud of this team,” Wallace said. “That adrenaline rush is crazy, ‘cause I’m coming off that right now—and I’m worn out.”

After pausing to hug wife Amanda and hold his 10-month-old son Becks aloft in front of the cheering crowd in the grandstands, Wallace continued.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is, knowing all the noise that's going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this 23 team. It's been getting old right around the cut line (for the Playoffs).”

Wallace, who started on the front row beside pole winner Chase Briscoe, ran consistently in the top five but didn’t take control of the race until after he pitted on Lap 119 during a cycle of green-flag stops early in the final stage.

He took the lead for good when Ryan Blaney pitted on Lap 142 and enjoyed an advantage of more than five seconds after the stops cycled out. Though Larson made inroads into Wallace’s advantage, he wasn’t in position to challenge for the victory until the rain came.

After the shower, Wallace prevailed on the restarts against one of the top drivers in motorsports.

“There’s nothing you can do here to pass, so, no, I don’t really think there was anything I could do differently,” said Larson, the defending Brickyard 400 winner. “I was second gear on the first restart, and honestly, that one worked out a little bit better, but he almost got clear of me down the frontstretch.

“And then on the second restart, he brought the pace down a little bit slower, so I needed to be first gear. It was kind of the same thing with me last year—he had the preferred lane on the inside, and it’s really hard to beat that.”

Denny Hamlin, who co-owns Wallace’s 23XI Racing car with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, finished third after crashing in Turn 2 during qualifying and starting the race from the rear in a backup car.

In the finals of the NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge, Ty Gibbs claimed the $1-million prize by finishing 21st to Ty Dillon’s 28th. The battle wasn’t as close as the respective finishing positions might suggest.

Dillon went a lap down to then-leader Austin Cindric on Lap 78, sustained damage to the nose of this No. 10 Chevrolet during a restart and finished three laps in arrears.

“One million is a lot of money, so I’m going to donate $10,000 to whichever charity Ty Dillon wants to give to,” Gibbs said. “It’s his choice.”

“But we had a fast SAIA LTL Freight Toyota Camry. Didn’t end up where we wanted to in the end. We just lost track position and (were out of the running) to win the race.”

Ryan Preece finished fourth on Sunday but remains 42 points below the current elimination line for the Playoffs with four races left in the regular season. Brad Keselowski was fifth, posting his third top-five result of the season.

Todd Gilliland, Blaney, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

Cindric led a race-high 40 laps to 34 for Briscoe.

William Byron saw his bid to retake the series lead from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott fall apart on the final lap. Byron took the green flag for the final overtime restart in third but ran out of fuel and fell to 16th at the finish.

Byron trails Elliott by four points in the chase for the regular-season championship. Larson is 15 points back in third.

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NASCAR Cup Series Race - Brickyard 400

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Speedway, Indiana

Sunday, July 27, 2025

1. (2) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 168.

2. (13) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 168.

3. (39) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 168.

4. (23) Ryan Preece, Ford, 168.

5. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 168.

6. (19) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 168.

7. (24) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 168.

8. (16) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 168.

9. (21) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 168.

10. (8) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 168.

11. (28) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 168.

12. (36) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 168.

13. (30) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 168.

14. (7) Chris Buescher, Ford, 168.

15. (10) Austin Cindric, Ford, 168.

16. (6) William Byron, Chevrolet, 168.

17. (38) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 168.

18. (1) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 168.

19. (11) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 168.

20. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 168.

21. (5) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 168.

22. (17) Josh Berry, Ford, 168.

23. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 167.

24. (35) Jesse Love(i), Chevrolet, 167.

25. (12) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 166.

26. (25) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 166.

27. (31) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 165.

28. (26) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 165.

29. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, Accident, 163.

30. (22) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 162.

31. (27) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 161.

32. (15) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 160.

33. (18) Noah Gragson, Ford, 153.

34. (37) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, Electrical, 125.

35. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 101.

36. (3) Erik Jones, Toyota, Accident, 89.

37. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, Fatigue, 58.

38. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 56.

39. (33) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 17.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 124.598 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 22 Mins, 15 Secs. Margin of Victory: .222 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps.

Lead Changes: 15 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Briscoe 0;C. Briscoe 1-19;A. Cindric 20-41;C. Briscoe 42-51;R. Preece 52-63;A. Bowman 64-65;A. Cindric 66-83;*. Wallace 84-87;C. Briscoe 88-92;R. Blaney 93-100;K. Larson 101-104;D. Hamlin 105;K. Larson 106-120;J. Nemechek 121;J. Haley 122-136;R. Blaney 137-142;*. Wallace 143-168.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Austin Cindric 2 times for 40 laps; Chase Briscoe 3 times for 34 laps; * Bubba Wallace 2 times for 30 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 19 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 15 laps; Ryan Blaney 2 times for 14 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 12 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 2 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 1 lap; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,23,24,45,17,8,77,5,3,16

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,5,11,24,6,48,77,22,17,23

Chase Briscoe wins third straight Crown Jewel pole at Indy oval

SPEEDWAY, Ind.—Five was the magic number for Toyota at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG (2 p.m. ET on TNT, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

First and foremost, Indiana native Chase Briscoe won his fifth pole of the season with a lap at 183.165 mph (49.136 seconds), edging Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing (183.117 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.013 seconds.

Briscoe, driving the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry, and Wallace led a Toyota sweep of the first five starting positions, the first time the car maker has claimed the top five spots for any Cup Series race at any track.

Erik Jones of LEGACY Motor Club qualified third at 182.749 mph, followed by Tyler Reddick (182.678 mph) and Ty Gibbs (182.445 mph).

William Byron (182.031 mph) was sixth in the fastest Chevrolet, and seventh-place starter Chris Buescher led the Ford contingent with a lap at 182.013 mph.

In Sunday’s race, Briscoe will start from the front row for the seventh time this season, having been second on the grid for the previous two races, at Sonoma and Dover. Briscoe has claimed the Busch Light Pole Award for all three Crown Jewel races this season—the DAYTONA 500, Coca-Cola 600 and now the Brickyard 400.

For a driver who spent his childhood as a spectator at Indianapolis, the pole is a dream fulfilled.

“I thought I was going to lose it a couple times, but I was able to hold onto it,” Biscoe said of his edgy qualifying lap. “I’m holding back tears. This is such a special moment for me. Even hearing the crowd as I got the pole is just super cool.

“Hopefully, I can keep it up there (Sunday). That’s the one that we want to win… Just being from literally 70 miles down the road (in Mitchell, Indiana) and coming here as a kid… and just dreaming of being able to come to this place, sitting in the same grandstands as the fans are, I dreamed of being on the other side of the fence, and now to do that is just unbelievable.”

The seventh pole of Briscoe’s career wasn’t secure, however, until his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin (the final qualifier) caromed off the Safer barrier in Turn 2 and nosed into the inside wall, destroying his No. 11 Camry.

Hamlin had an edge of more than 0.2 seconds over Briscoe through the first corner before his car stepped out in the second turn at the 2.5-mile track. Hamlin will start at the rear in a backup car on Sunday.

Gibbs will start 21positions ahead of Ty Dillon as the two drivers battle for the $1-million top prize in the In-Season Challenge. The higher finisher will take home the check.

Series leader Chase Elliott made an adroit save in Turn 2 on his qualifying lap but lost time in the corner and will start 30th. Elliott has a 16-point lead over Byron with five races left in the regular season.

Wallace, the last driver above the current elimination line for the Cup Series Playoffs, will start Sunday’s race with a 16-point edge over Ryan Preece, who qualified 23rd.

Carson Hocevar, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 on the grid.

Denny Hamlin Wins Thrilling Overtime Finish at Dover Motor Speedway

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

July 20, 2025

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

Denny Hamlin prevailed in Sunday’s EchoPark AutoTrader 400 at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway - a race that featured a 56-minute red flag for rain, late-race strategy decisions, and involved a pair of overtime restarts before the trophy was ultimately settled between a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.

But the veteran Hamlin got it all right when it mattered most, getting a jump on the field in both overtime restarts and in the end holding off his newest teammate Chase Briscoe who was even on fresher tires. It marks back-to-back wins at the Dover concrete-mile for Hamlin and a NASCAR Cup Series-best fourth victory of 2025.

“Things were going pretty well there before the rain and then obviously had to endure a few restarts there,’’ said a smiling Hamlin, 44, who collected his 58th career victory and first trophy since the birth of his son, Jameson last month. “It was tough, those guys gave me a run for it, no doubt about it.’’

“Winning here at Dover is super special to me,’’ he continued. “This is a place I had not been very good at the first half of my career and then to have back-to-back (wins) here the last couple years is amazing.’’

Briscoe certainly pushed Hamlin on that final two-lap sprint to the checkered flag. The two ran door-to-door on the white flag lap – their cars even making slight contact – before Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota Camry was able to pull around and clear Briscoe’s car, racing off to a .310-second victory and become only the 13th driver in track history to win consecutive races.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished third and fourth with another JGR driver, Ty Gibbs rounding out the top five.

For most of the day, it looked as if Hendrick’s Chase Elliott would continue a summer hot streak and claim his second race win in the last four weeks. He led a race best 238 of the 407 laps – taking his first stage win of the season and overcoming an early pit road miscue. But he just wasn’t able to challenge Hamlin.

There was some consolation in Elliott’s sixth place finish, however, as it – combined with teammate William Byron’s accident with two laps remining in regulation – now gives Elliott a 17-point championship lead over Byron with five races remaining in the regular season. It’s the first time he’s led the championship this year.

Elliott led so many laps and essentially controlled race pace, but it was a cycle of pit stops that gave Hamlin opportunity out front. He cycled to the lead when Elliott pit for tires during a caution beating his JGR teammate Christopher Bell on a restart with 60 laps remaining. Hamlin held the lead position when the 56-minute red flag came out for rain with 15 laps to go.

And after all that had to hold off Briscoe on consecutive overtime restarts – ultimately leading the final 67 laps.

“I thought I did everything I needed to and thought I had it there for a second,’’ Briscoe said. “I was so close to clearing him and just couldn’t do it. Obviously racing a teammate, I wanted to make sure at least a JGR car won. Honestly it was a great day. We weren’t probably a second place race car, we were probably fifth to 10th place car. Glad we were able to make a good finish out of it.’’

Behind Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

While the top of the championship standings changed with Elliott taking the lead, the four drivers – Reddick, Bowman, Buescher and Wallace - still chasing a points-position in the 16-driver Playoff remained the same. Wallace’s seventh-place finish gives him a 16-point edge on Ryan Preece for that 16th and final transfer position. Kyle Busch, who finished 11th Sunday, is now 39 points behind Wallace.

The race also set the “In-Season Challenge” championship round next week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Gibbs and longshot Ty Dillon advancing to the title round.

Gibbs was paired against Tyler Reddick at Dover and Dillon had to beat John Hunter Nemechek in the other bracket to settle the final two positions for $1 million to-win grand finale of the inaugural incentive program presented by TNT.

In both head-to-head battles, the two drivers ran near each other all afternoon. Gibbs got around Reddick in the closing laps and Dillon benefitted from a “lucky dog” late race pass - he and Nemechek finished 20th and 21st.

“Super cool today, I really appreciate my team.” Gibbs said smiling.

Dillon, who drives the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was similarly ecstatic for the opportunity. He was seeded 32nd among the 32 drivers to qualify for the In-Season Tournament and had to race past drivers like Hamlin in earlier rounds.

“All respect to John Hunter we ran next to each other all day,’’ a thrilled Dillon said. “Just so grateful to have this opportunity and this is one of the greatest things to happen in my career.”

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to one of its premier showcases, the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2 p.m. ET, TNT, HBO Max, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson is the defending race winner.

--30--

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400

Dover Motor Speedway

Dover, Delaware

Sunday, July 20, 2025

1. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 407.

2. (2) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 407.

3. (16) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 407.

4. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 407.

5. (9) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 407.

6. (1) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 407.

7. (22) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 407.

8. (31) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 407.

9. (12) Chris Buescher, Ford, 407.

10. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 407.

11. (10) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 407.

12. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 407.

13. (7) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 407.

14. (8) Joey Logano, Ford, 407.

15. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 407.

16. (26) Austin Cindric, Ford, 407.

17. (20) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 407.

18. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 407.

19. (11) Ryan Preece, Ford, 407.

20. (21) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 407.

21. (28) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 406.

22. (30) Zane Smith, Ford, 406.

23. (34) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 405.

24. (32) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 405.

25. (24) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 405.

26. (18) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 404.

27. (27) Erik Jones, Toyota, 404.

28. (14) Josh Berry, Ford, 404.

29. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 403.

30. (6) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 400.

31. (5) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 393.

32. (36) Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 393.

33. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 382.

34. (37) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Fatigue, 369.

35. (33) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Handling, 302.

36. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, Handling, 232.

37. (17) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Suspension, 221.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 110.849 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 40 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: .310 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 8 for 50 laps.

Lead Changes: 13 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Elliott 0;C. Briscoe 1-13;C. Elliott 14-184;T. Gibbs 185;C. Hocevar 186-193;D. Suarez 194-199;C. Bell 200-253;A. Bowman 254;C. Bell 255-259;C. Elliott 260-326;*. Wallace 327-329;*. Gragson 330-332;C. Bell 333-340;D. Hamlin 341-407.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Chase Elliott 2 times for 238 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 67 laps; Christopher Bell 3 times for 67 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 13 laps; Carson Hocevar 1 time for 8 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 6 laps; * Bubba Wallace 1 time for 3 laps; * Noah Gragson 1 time for 3 laps; Alex Bowman 1 time for 1 lap; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 9,20,11,24,48,19,54,8,22,5

Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,48,11,9,5,24,19,54,12,23

Shane van Gisbergen triumphs at Sonoma for third NASCAR Cup win of 2025

Getty Images

SONOMA, Calif. — Shane van Gisbergen proved on Sunday that it’s impossible to keep a road course superstar down for more than a brief interlude.

After finishing second to Connor Zilisch in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, van Gisbergen was back on top on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in wine country, winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

As has become his custom of late, the New Zealander reached a trio of milestones, winning his third straight road/street course race from the pole position to equal Jeff Gordon’s feat from 1998 and 1999.

The victory was van Gisbergen’s third of the season in his first trip around the 1.99-mile, 12-turn circuit in a NASCAR Cup Series car. SVG won for the fourth time in 34 starts, becoming the quickest to four wins since Parnelli Jones won at Riverside in 1967 in his 31st Cup start.

His 97 laps led are the most by a Sonoma winner, eclipsing Jeff Gordon’s high-water mark of 92 set in 2004.

“We had an amazing car,” van Gisbergen said. “Chase Briscoe, what a great racer and gave me respect. Jumped the last (restart) a little bit, and it was pretty tense, but amazing. So stoked for Red Bull, Trackhouse, Chevy. I believe we had a really fun weekend here, some great races, and I hope everyone enjoyed that.”

The winner of 81 Australian Supercars races on the way to three championships in the series, van Gisbergen already is being touted as perhaps the best road course racer in NASCAR history.

“I had an amazing time in Australia, and then to come here and the last couple weeks or years actually has been a dream come true,” said the 36-year-old driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. “I've really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. Thanks, everyone, for making me feel so welcome. I hope I'm here for a long time to come.”

Winning the second stage despite short-pitting to preserve track position, van Gisbergen advanced to third on the current Cup Playoff grid with 17 Playoff points. He arrived at the finish line 1.128 seconds ahead of consistent Chase Briscoe, but the win was far from guaranteed, given the chaos of the final 15 laps.

SVG had to survive three cautions and subsequent restarts in the late stages of the race to seal the win, as a large group of drivers on better tires chased those who had stayed on the track (including the race winner) after the No. 51 Ford of Cody Ware jettisoned a tire and caused a yellow on Lap 97.

Briscoe qualified second and finished where he felt he deserved.

“The only opportunity I had was on the restarts,” Briscoe said. “I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that's probably what it was like. That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He's just so good. He's really raised the bar on this entire series.

“Proud of the effort. I thought there was one restart I was maybe going to get clear of him, but truthfully, even if I cleared him, he was probably going to pass me back by the end of the lap. Yeah, proud of the effort. We were a second-place car all day and obviously ended up second with it.”

Chase Elliott pitted on Lap 97 for fresher tires and came home third after restarting 14th on Lap 100. Michael McDowell, on the same strategy as Elliott, climbed to fourth at the finish, while Christopher Bell held fifth on older tires.

It was nice to be on offense and give ourselves a shot,” Elliott said. “I wish I could have made it happen there. I was trying, but I just couldn’t get going like we needed to there at the end.”

The action on the final few laps was attributable in part to battles within the NASCAR Cup In-Season Challenge. In Sunday’s third round at Sonoma, 32nd seed Ty Dillon bumped the No. 48 Chevrolet of Alex Bowman out of the way on the final lap to finish 17th to Bowman’s 19th and keep his hopes for the $1-million prize alive.

Dillon will face John Hunter Nemechek in next Sunday semifinals at Dover Motor Speedway. Nemechek finished one spot ahead of LEGACY Motor Club teammate Erik Jones (28th to 29th) to advance to the fourth round.

“It was a rough couple of laps there,” Dillon acknowledged. “Alex and I race really clean. I told him, ‘Man, if it wasn’t for the million dollars, I probably wouldn’t have done that,’ but I had to. It’s been an incredible run for this No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team. We’ve worked so hard for this opportunity…

“We’re going to give it all we’ve got at Dover; put pressure on the guys. I think you’ve seen through this that our team doesn’t quit. I saw the No. 48 there at the end, and I knew it was our opportunity to race hard and go get him. Just proud of this team’s effort.”

Ty Gibbs moved into the tournament semifinals with a seventh-place finish to Zane Smith’s 27th, and Tyler Reddick ousted Ryan Preece with a sixth-place run to Preece’s 12th. Gibbs and Reddick will face off at the Monster Mile for a trip to the finals.

William Byron, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch completed the top 10 in a race that featured six cautions for 17 laps.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, California

Sunday, July 13, 2025

1. (1) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 110.

2. (2) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 110.

3. (13) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 110.

4. (15) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 110.

5. (10) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 110.

6. (8) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 110.

7. (6) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 110.

8. (3) William Byron, Chevrolet, 110.

9. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 110.

10. (17) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 110.

11. (21) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110.

12. (20) Ryan Preece, Ford, 110.

13. (25) Josh Berry, Ford, 110.

14. (19) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 110.

15. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 110.

16. (14) Chris Buescher, Ford, 110.

17. (26) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 110.

18. (5) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 110.

19. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 110.

20. (16) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110.

21. (33) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 110.

22. (35) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 110.

23. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 110.

24. (4) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 110.

25. (28) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 110.

26. (30) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 110.

27. (12) Zane Smith, Ford, 110.

28. (18) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 110.

29. (31) Erik Jones, Toyota, 110.

30. (24) Austin Cindric, Ford, 110.

31. (37) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 110.

32. (23) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 110.

33. (34) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 110.

34. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 108.

35. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 108.

36. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 106.

37. (32) Noah Gragson, Ford, Accident, 99.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 75.087 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 55 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.128 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 17 laps.

Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: S. Gisbergen # 1-22;R. Chastain 23-26;S. Gisbergen # 27-53;K. Larson 54;S. Gisbergen # 55-58;C. Briscoe 59;S. Gisbergen # 60-83;C. Bell 84;K. Larson 85-86;M. McDowell 87-89;S. Gisbergen # 90-105;C. Briscoe 106;S. Gisbergen # 107-110.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Shane Van Gisbergen # 6 times for 97 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 4 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 3 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 3 laps; Chase Briscoe 2 times for 2 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,88,23,47,24,10,19,12,54,9

Stage #2 Top Ten: 88,5,8,23,47,19,10,17,12,24

Shane van Gisbergen completes second straight NASCAR pole sweep

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

July 12, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

SONOMA, Calif.— For the second straight weekend, Shane van Gisbergen dominated NASCAR time trials—and predictably so.

On his second lap Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, the New Zealander became the only driver to top 96 mph on the 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course.

Touring the circuit in 74.594 seconds (96.040 mph), van Gisbergen secured the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race (3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Van Gisbergen beat second-place qualifier Chase Briscoe (95.719 mph) by 0.25 seconds to claim his first Busch Light Pole Award at Sonoma, his third of the season and the fourth of his career.

His pole-winning run followed Friday’s top qualifying effort for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Sonoma. Last weekend on the Chicago Street Course, van Gisbergen swept the poles and races in both series.

Qualifying in Group B, SVG picked up speed substantially from his first lap to his second, from 74.833 seconds to 74.594.

“I thought it could be faster,” said van Gisbergen, who won last season’s Xfinity race at Sonoma but will be making his first start here in a Cup car. “And then in the first group, we saw big gains from people in their second runs. I think the 24 (third-place qualifier William Byron) made a huge jump, which is pretty abnormal, I think, on these tires, especially this new soft tire.

“My first lap was just a banker almost. The second lap was really good.”

Byron navigated the course at 95.488 mph to claim the third spot on the grid. Ross Chastain was fourth at 95.409 mph, followed by AJ Allmendinger (95.367 mph) and Ty Gibbs (95.357 mph).

Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell claimed the sixth through 10th starting spots, respectively.

Drivers facing off in the third round of the In-Season Challenge qualified as follows: Gibbs, sixth vs. Zane Smith, 12th; Bowman, ninth vs. Ty Dillon, 26th; John Hunter Nemechek, 18th vs. LEGACY Motor Club teammate Erik Jones, 31st; and Reddick, eighth vs. Ryan Preece, 20th.

Preece, two points below the current elimination line for a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, may be more concerned with the position of 30th-place starter Bubba Wallace, who is two points above the cut line with seven races left in the regular season.

Katherine Legge, who finished 19th last Sunday on the Chicago Street Course, did not make a qualifying attempt and will start 37th.

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying - Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, California

Saturday, July 12, 2025

1. (88) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 96.040 mph.

2. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 95.719 mph.

3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 95.488 mph.

4. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 95.409 mph.

5. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 95.367 mph.

6. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 95.357 mph.

7. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 95.350 mph.

8. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 95.296 mph.

9. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 95.224 mph.

10. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 95.212 mph.

11. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 95.198 mph.

12. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 95.167 mph.

13. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 95.161 mph.

14. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 95.047 mph.

15. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 95.003 mph.

16. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 94.967 mph.

17. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 94.919 mph.

18. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 94.866 mph.

19. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 94.808 mph.

20. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 94.776 mph.

21. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 94.732 mph.

22. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 94.726 mph.

23. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 94.679 mph.

24. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 94.594 mph.

25. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 94.467 mph.

26. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 94.222 mph.

27. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, 94.112 mph.

28. (35) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 93.949 mph.

29. (7) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 93.929 mph.

30. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 93.923 mph.

31. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 93.896 mph.

32. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 93.894 mph.

33. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 93.695 mph.

34. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 93.497 mph.

35. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 93.364 mph.

36. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 92.465 mph.

37. (78) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.

--30--

Shane van Gisbergen completes rare weekend sweep in Chicago

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CHICAGO—Once again, Shane van Gisbergen asserted his superiority on the streets of Chicago, and in doing so, he matched a major NASCAR milestone.

In winning the Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course, the New Zealander completed a weekend sweep of the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup races, both from the pole position.

Taking the checkered flag under caution, after Cody Ware plowed into the Turn 6 tire barrier as van Gisbergen charged through Turn 12 on the next-to-last lap, SVG matched Kyle Busch’s sweep of both races from the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July of 2016. No other driver has won races in NASCAR's top two divisions from the pole on the same weekend.

The three-time Australian Supercars champion said he was panicked at the possibility of a caution and potential overtime after Ware’s wreck, but he reached the start/finish to start the final lap before NASCAR called the caution.

“What an amazing weekend for me,” said Van Gisbergen, who drove the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to his second Cup victory on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn circuit, his second win this season and the third of his career.

“Lucky guy to drive some great cars. I thank Trackhouse, WeatherTech Chevy and all these guys and girls here—what an amazing weekend. Thanks everyone for coming out, and hope we put on a good show.”

Ty Gibbs ran second, equaling his career-best finish at Darlington last year. Tyler Reddick restarted 15th on fresh tires with nine laps left and climbed to third before he ran out of time.

Van Gisbergen took the lead for the final time on Lap 60, moving to the inside of front-running Chase Briscoe in Turn 2, racing side-by-side with the recent Pocono winner through Turn 3 and out-braking him into Turn 4 to gain the top spot.

From that point, SVG had to survive two cautions and restarts, the first to get an ambulance across the track for a spectator medical emergency and the second for Austin Cindric’s stalled car.

After that sixth yellow, Gibbs, running second, didn’t get a strong launch on the final restart and fell a car-length behind before reaching Turn 1. SVG pulled away from the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from that point on.

“Well, it really depends on the restart zone, because it's right in that last corner, and the dude on the outside gets shafted every single time,” said Gibbs, who restarted on the outside approaching Turn 12.

“If you watch every one of them, the inside guy wins almost every time. He just got a good enough gap, had a good restart. I had a little bit of rear tire degradation that didn't really help me on my launch off the corner. (He) just got a good gap and got away from me.”

For Reddick, the race was a case of déjà vu. Last year he chased race winner Alex Bowman with a faster car over the closing laps and finished second.

“We kind of ended up in a tough spot there on the penultimate restart, I guess,” Reddick said. “Some of the cars were spinning—I can’t name them all, but unfortunately we kind of just got stuck in the wrong lane where I had to check up. I got behind those cars that we were on the same tire strategy as, so we just lost a bit of time there passing those cars back.

“It’s great to finish third, but it’s for sure a bummer when you look at how much ground you made up.”

For the first time in the three years of the Chicago Street Race, weather in the form of rain didn’t play a role—but anticipation of possible thunderstorms did.

As the race neared conclusion, fog and storm clouds began to roll in from the north, but rain didn’t reach the track until after the checkered flag.

“The strategy was a bit all over the place, as we knew it would be today, racing the weather, racing cars and different (pit) stops,” Van Gisbergen said. “Stephen (Doran, crew chief) did a really good job on the box all day of just painting the picture in my head of who I was up against.

“We had two great pit stops. Just so stoked to get (sponsor) WeatherTech in Victory Lane for their home race.”

Michael McDowell got past SVG at the start of the race and led the first 31 laps, but he had to take his car to the DVP (damaged vehicle policy) area to repair a stuck throttle and lost 22 laps in the garage.

A massive eight-car crash on Lap 3 blocked the track between Turns 10 and 11 and forced a stoppage of 14 minutes, 42 seconds. Carson Hocevar started the melee when he clipped the inside wall in Turn 10 and crashed into the opposite wall with enough force to move the Jersey barrier.

Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet turned sideways, and the cars of Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Will Brown and Riley Herbst piled into the wreck. Only Herbst and Suarez were able to continue.

“I didn’t see it until the last second,” Keselowski said. “I slowed down, and I actually felt I was going to get stopped, and then I just kind of got ran over from behind. It’s just a narrow street course, and sometimes there’s nowhere to go.”

Keselowski’s early exit made a winner of 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the In-Season Challenge. Dillon will face Bowman in next Sunday third-round event at Sonoma Raceway, after Bowman traded shot after shot with his Chicago opponent, Bubba Wallace, until Wallace spun in the closing laps to lose the head-to-head battle.

John Hunter Nemechek finished 15th, one spot ahead of Chase Elliott, to eliminate the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the In-Season Challenge. Nemechek will face Erik Jones, who advanced when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. retired after colliding with a tire barrier.

Ryan Preece ran seventh and eliminated 30th-place finisher Noah Gragson. He’ll face Reddick, who ousted Hocevar. Gibbs prevailed over sixth-place finisher AJ Allmendinger and will race against Zane Smith at Sonoma.

Smith came home 14th and knocked out 18th-place Chris Buescher, who ran most of the race with an engine down on power.

Series leader William Byron was out of the race with a broken clutch after one lap and finished 40th. His lead in the standings over second-place Elliott shrank to 13 points.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Grant Park 165

Chicago Street Race

Chicago, Illinois

Sunday, July 6, 2025

1. (1) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 75.

2. (9) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 75.

3. (4) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 75.

4. (40) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 75.

5. (6) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 75.

6. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 75.

7. (7) Ryan Preece, Ford, 75.

8. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 75.

9. (30) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 75.

10. (22) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 75.

11. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 75.

12. (17) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 75.

13. (14) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 75.

14. (26) Zane Smith, Ford, 75.

15. (25) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 75.

16. (39) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 75.

17. (21) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 75.

18. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 75.

19. (33) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, 75.

20. (36) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 75.

21. (31) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 75.

22. (28) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 75.

23. (5) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 75.

24. (13) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 74.

25. (34) Erik Jones, Toyota, 74.

26. (35) Cody Ware, Ford, Accident, 73.

27. (27) Austin Cindric, Ford, 72.

28. (37) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 70.

29. (18) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

30. (24) Noah Gragson, Ford, 68.

31. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 62.

32. (2) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 53.

33. (23) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 29.

34. (29) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 28.

35. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

36. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

37. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 2.

38. (20) Todd Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 2.

39. (19) Will Brown, Chevrolet, Accident, 2.

40. (38) William Byron, Chevrolet, Clutch, 1.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 66.764 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 28 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M. McDowell 1-31;S. Van Gisbergen # 32-41;A. Allmendinger 42-43;R. Blaney 44-46;C. Briscoe 47-59;S. Van Gisbergen # 60-75.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Michael McDowell 1 time for 31 laps; Shane Van Gisbergen # 2 times for 26 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 13 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 3 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 71,8,45,19,60,1,42,38,33,4

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,19,45,48,23,11,9,42,43,20

Shane van Gisbergen completes sweep of Chicago streets with NASCAR Cup pole

Logan Riely/Getty Images

July 5, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CHICAGO—Road course superstar Shane van Gisbergen pulled of the second qualifying double of his fledgling NASCAR career during Saturday’s time trials on the Chicago Street Course.

After securing the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Van Gisbergen blitzed the rest of the field on his final run for the top starting position in Sunday’s Grant Park 165 on the 2.2-mile, 12-turn street circuit (2 p.m. ET on TNT, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Van Gisbergen posted a respectable lap on his second run, only to see it surpassed by recent Pocono winner Chase Briscoe. But Van Gisbergen responded with a lap at 88.338 mph (89.656 seconds) to beat eventual second-place qualifier Michael McDowell (87.879 mph) by 0.468 seconds, a huge margin in the competitive Gen-7 environment.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Van Gisbergen’s first on the Chicago Street Course, his second this season and the third of his career. Last fall, he swept the Cup and Xfinity poles at the Charlotte Roval.

“I’m a lucky boy—I got some great cars today,” said the three-time Australian Supercars champion. “Xfinity pole, Cup pole—pretty special. Hopeful for the race tomorrow.

“Practice wasn’t that great, and I went out in qualifying, and the car felt really good ... I learned a lot in the Xfinity car this morning, and that just gives you a great leg up for the Cup car.”

Carson Hocevar, McDowell’s Spire Motorsports teammate, will start third after a lap at 87.824 mph. Tyler Reddick claimed the fourth spot on the grid, followed by Briscoe, who was second fastest behind Van Gisbergen in the first of two qualifying groups.

Hocevar and Reddick are head-to-head opponents in the In-Season Challenge, with the second round to be contested in Sunday’s race.

Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon claimed the sixth through 10th starting positions respectively. Defending race winner Alex Bowman will start 11th.

There will be plenty of speed at both ends of the field. Denny Hamlin blew the engine in his No. 11 Toyota on his first practice lap and did not make a qualifying run. Neither did William Byron, who slammed the outside wall with less than a minute left in practice—after setting the fastest time in the session.

Chase Elliott also sustained damage to his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and did not qualify. Byron, Elliott and Hamlin will start 38th, 39th and 40th respectively on Sunday.

Bubba Wallace, facing an In-Season Challenge matchup against Bowman, spun twice and backed into a Turn 2 tire barrier during time trials and will start 37th.

Katherine Legge will be the first female driver to compete in the Chicago Street Race after knocking the unchartered car of Corey Heim out of the field late in the Group B session. Legge earned the 33rd spot on the grid with a lap at 85.744 mph.

Chase Elliott breaks drought with electrifying victory at EchoPark Speedway

Krista Jasso/Getty Images

June 29, 2025

By Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. – Timing his pass on the last lap to perfection, Georgia native Chase Elliott charged past Brad Keselowski and held off the driver of the No. 6 Ford to win Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Echo Park Speedway.

The popular victory in the first event of the NASCAR Cup Series’ In-Season Challenge broke a 44-race drought for Elliott dating to last year’s win at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was the second at EchoPark for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the 20th of his career.

Elliott crossed the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Keselowski and 0.170 seconds in front of teammate and third-place finisher Alex Bowman.

The 29-year-old from Dawsonville, Ga., advanced to the second round of the five-race in-season tournament, eliminating first-round opponent Austin Dillon, who finished 20th.

In a race that featured 46 lead changes among 13 drivers, Elliott got a welcome push from Bowman on the final two laps, stranding Keselowski with no help for a final charge.

"Unbelievable... unbelievable. How about that? Are you kidding me?” Elliott said with an uncharacteristic display of emotion. “I've never in my life... This is unbelievable. Thank you guys so much.

“What a special car, and just a huge thanks to [sponsor] NAPA Auto Parts and everything they do for me and to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. [Cancer patient] Rhealynn Mills designed the fast NAPA Chevrolet tonight, so this was a lot of fun. This right here is something I'll never forget."

In the closing laps, Elliott was quick to seize the opportunity that came his way.

“Well, I just think that, honestly, all the cards fell on the right places there those last couple laps,” he acknowledged. “What a crazy race, man. I don't know if y'all had fun, but it was wild from my seat. I'm so glad we got to run that thing out there to the end.”

Keselowski led 46 laps, including circuits 255-259 of 260, and advanced past 21st-place finisher Kyle Busch in the In-Season Challenge, but he had no defense for Elliott’s final push.

“The 9 [Elliott] just had the 48 [Bowman] behind him giving him a huge push, and there was nothing I could do to cover that,” Keselowski said. “When we had our cars linked up at RFK [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing], we could do the same thing, but we lost that, and it was just kind of a two-on-one, and I fought as hard as I could.”

Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Erik Jones. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zane Smith, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

The 18th event of the Cup Series regular season got off to a slow start that belied the intense action that would come later in the proceedings. A delay for a light rain stopped the race for 14minutes, 34 seconds after 36 laps, with Joey Logano out front for the entire stint after starting from the pole.

After the resumption to green-flag racing on Lap 49, the first of two major wrecks was just eight circuits away. On Lap 57, Christopher Bell turned sideways near the apex of Turns 3 and 4, igniting a seven-car wreck that sent the cars of Bell and Ryan Blaney to the garage for attempted repairs.

“I saw a couple guys spinning and slowing,” Blaney said. “I got to the apron and there was really nowhere else for me to go but the apron. I tried to get there and get clear of it, but they kind of came down and got me in the right-rear and I ended up in the fence.

“There was no missing that one.”

That was just the appetizer. One the backstretch after a restart on Lap 69, Buescher lifted to avoid running into then-leader Chase Elliott and the field accordioned behind him, sending cars spinning out of control and into each other.

In a wreck that inflicted varying degrees of damage on 22 of the 40 cars, the vehicles of Ross Chastain, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Josh Berry and Corey LaJoie all found their way to the garage—several on wrecker—a result of the 16-car pileup.

Byron exited in 36th place.

“There wasn’t really a whole lot I could see,” said the two-time Daytona 500 winner. “I was kind of catching the No. 22 [Logano] with a little bit of a run. All the guys at the front had pitted during the stage break and cycled to the mid-20s.

“We were just running a great race in the top five. They all stacked up and at that point, I went right a little bit; the wreck was already happening, and I just kind of got shoved into it.”

Needless to say, the two major incidents had enormous implications for the In-Season Challenge. Hamlin, the top seed, fell victim to 32nd seed Ty Dillon in the biggest upset of the opening round.

“For all you Denny fans out there, I just beat your favorite driver,” Dillon quipped afterwards, borrowing from one of Hamin’s signature phrases.

Second-seeded Briscoe was ousted by close friend Noah Gragson, who survived the major incidents and finished 25th. Byron bowed out to Ryan Preece, who finished 15th.

Joining Elliott, Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Preece and Gragson in advancing to the second round of the Challenge were Bowman, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Jones, Hocevar, Reddick (eliminating Kyle Larson), AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Smith.

The race featured 10 cautions for 68 laps. Logano led twice for a race-high 51 laps before exiting after the Lap 69 crash. Austin Cindric won the first stage. Reddick edged Elliott for the Stage 2 win by 0.001 seconds.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Georgia

Monday, June 30, 2025

1. (15) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 260.

2. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 260.

3. (9) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 260.

4. (23) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 260.

5. (26) Erik Jones, Toyota, 260.

6. (37) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 260.

7. (8) Zane Smith, Ford, 260.

8. (14) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.

9. (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 260.

10. (30) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 260.

11. (36) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 260.

12. (21) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 260.

13. (39) Cody Ware, Ford, 260.

14. (16) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 260.

15. (5) Ryan Preece, Ford, 260.

16. (38) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 260.

17. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 260.

18. (32) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 260.

19. (7) Cole Custer, Ford, 260.

20. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 260.

21. (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 260.

22. (24) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 258.

23. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 257.

24. (35) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 257.

25. (27) Noah Gragson, Ford, 252.

26. (19) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 241.

27. (17) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 237.

28. (20) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 223.

29. (40) David Starr(i), Ford, Accident, 184.

30. (28) Christopher Bell, Toyota, Steering, 114.

31. (33) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 72.

32. (2) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 70.

33. (34) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

34. (31) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

35. (10) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, Accident, 69.

36. (1) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 69.

37. (18) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 69.

38. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, Accident, 68.

39. (25) Corey LaJoie(i), Ford, Accident, 68.

40. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 56.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 111.792 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 34 Mins, 54 Secs. Margin of Victory: .168 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 68 laps.

Lead Changes: 46 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Logano 1-48;A. Cindric 49-51;J. Logano 52-54;A. Cindric 55-63;C. Elliott 64-73;C. Buescher 74-76;T. Gibbs 77-85;R. Herbst # 86;T. Reddick 87-88;C. Buescher 89-91;T. Gibbs 92-113;T. Reddick 114-119;A. Bowman 120-122;C. Buescher 123;A. Bowman 124-130;C. Buescher 131-134;A. Bowman 135-136;C. Buescher 137-140;A. Bowman 141-146;C. Elliott 147-149;T. Reddick 150-152;C. Elliott 153-157;T. Reddick 158-164;C. Elliott 165-171;A. Bowman 172;C. Elliott 173;A. Bowman 174-183;B. Keselowski 184-187;J. Haley 188-190;T. Gibbs 191;R. Preece 192-194;C. Elliott 195-201;B. Keselowski 202;C. Elliott 203-208;B. Keselowski 209-224;C. Elliott 225;B. Keselowski 226-237;Z. Smith 238;B. Keselowski 239-243;A. Bowman 244;B. Keselowski 245-247;Z. Smith 248-250;A. Bowman 251-252;Z. Smith 253;R. Stenhouse Jr. 254;B. Keselowski 255-259;C. Elliott 260.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano 2 times for 51 laps; Brad Keselowski 7 times for 46 laps; Chase Elliott 9 times for 41 laps; Alex Bowman 8 times for 32 laps; Ty Gibbs 3 times for 32 laps; Tyler Reddick 4 times for 18 laps; Chris Buescher 5 times for 15 laps; Austin Cindric 2 times for 12 laps; Zane Smith 3 times for 5 laps; Ryan Preece 1 time for 3 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 3 laps; Riley Herbst # 1 time for 1 lap; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,6,22,24,77,47,21,88,9,23

Stage #2 Top Ten: 45,9,17,48,43,10,88,38,42,6

Joey Logano wins NASCAR Cup Series pole at EchoPark Speedway on tiebreaker

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

HAMPTON, Ga. – Joey Logano led an armada of Fords into the top eight starting spot for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Logano clocked in at 30.979 seconds (178.960 mph) in Friday’s qualifying session to secure his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his third at EchoPark and the 32nd of his career.

Logano matched the time posted earlier by Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing, but the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford got the nod for the pole on an owner points tiebreaker.

Ryan Blaney posted the third fastest lap at 178.937 mph, followed by Austin Cindric at 178.626 mph, as Team Penske drivers and the Penske affiliate Wood Brothers locked out the first two rows for Sunday’s race, the opening round of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge.

Logano faces ninth-place qualifier Alex Bowman in the first round.

“Being up front and controlling this race is the name of the game,” said Logano, who won last year’s second Atlanta race, which was held in September. “If you can get up there and solidify the top position, I feel like you can stay there. The thing is, there are a lot of ‘What ifs?’ that play out in this race, a lot of cautions that may be timed in a different way, where it can jumble up the field.

“It’s hard to say you’re going to be leading every lap… The good thing is that we controlled what we could today. I’m super proud of Team Penske, Roush Yates (Engines), Ford, obviously to keep our Mustangs up there. It really shows the ability to repeat from car to car, which is really hard to do.

“We tied with the 21 (Berry) and the other cars were within a couple hundredths of a second.”

Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Zane Smith completed the Ford sweep of the top eight starting spots.

Bowman drove the fastest Chevrolet to ninth on the grid, and Pocono Raceway winner Chase Briscoe was 10th in the quickest Toyota.

Denny Hamlin, top seed in the In-Season Challenge, qualified 33rd but expects his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to fare better in race trim. Nevertheless, Hamlin starts 19 spots behind Ty Dillon, the driver he has to beat to advance to the second round of the tournament.

Briscoe, the second seed, starts 17 positions ahead of close friend Noah Gragson, his first-round opponent.

Qualifying was interrupted by a 30-minute lightning hold, but no rain hit the track despite storms in the area.

Bubba Wallace’s win at Indianapolis could launch the next phase of his career

July 28, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

INDIANAPOLIS — On Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Bubba Wallace took a giant step toward stardom.

As the NASCAR Cup Series drivers lined up for the first of two overtimes, however, the script wasn’t trending in the direction of a Wallace victory in the Brickyard 400.

The driver of the No. 23 Toyota had been cruising toward the most important triumph of his career when the deus ex machina in the form of sudden rainfall intervened with four laps left.

NASCAR was forced to stop the race, and expectations for the outcome changed as suddenly as the rain had come.

The script would read as follows: Rain wipes out Wallace’s 3.5-second lead with four laps left. Kyle Larson, lining up second to Wallace’s outside, uses his superior speed and race craft to pull ahead on the restart and win his fourth race of the season, leaving Wallace bitterly disappointed.

But Wallace flipped the script in a scenario that required two overtime restarts. Twice he held his own against Larson down the frontstretch and used the advantage of the inside lane to edge ahead in the first two corners.

Short on fuel after pitting on Lap 119 of 168, Wallace had enough left for a long, joyful burnout after beating Larson to the finish line to secure the third and most significant victory of his career.

“Bubba did a really good job, and his team did a great job executing their strategy to get that track position,” said Larson, who won last year’s race at the Brickyard. “So, congrats to them, and really, really cool to win here.”

After the race, Wallace’s crew chief, Charles Denike, fiercely defended his driver’s ability.

“Bubba’s a superstar,” Denike asserted. “That’s what we do. We win. We’re here to win. We came and won. I’m proud of him.”

Perhaps the rain was a blessing in disguise, given that restarts require instinct, muscle memory and split-second decision making with little time for reflection. Before the rain came, Wallace had been turning laps with bouts of intermittent self-doubt gnawing at his psyche.

“I'll say those last 20 laps there was ups and downs of telling myself, ‘You're not going to be able to do it.’ I hate that I'm that way… I think that's my biggest downfall. We're all human, and we're all super hard on ourselves. You guys know how hard I am on myself.

“At the same time, I was combatting, and I'm like, ‘(Freaking) right, we can do this.’ It was kind of like the angel and devil on your shoulder. It wasn't all negative. But to even have that thought, it's like, ‘Man, come on, focus.’

“That all went away on the restarts, because it was time to really focus and get the job done. Yeah, just still working out those kinks and growing as a person.”

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of Wallace’s 23XI Racing Camry, has seen that growth up close, and he traced Wallace’s progress to the birth of his son Becks last September.

“It just seems like for me something changed mid last year,” said Hamlin, who finished third Sunday in the No. 11 Toyota he drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. “You can relate it to having a child or whatever, but something happened mid last year where I saw a change in attitude that then changed work ethic.

“What I'm hoping he takes from this is that hard work pays off. It really does pay off. Hopefully, we see more of this.”

Naysayers will note that Wallace ended a 100-race losing streak with the win at the Brickyard. They’ll point to one-hit wonder Paul Menard, whose only Cup victory in 471 starts came at Indy in 2011.

In Wallace’s case, however, the victory has a different feel, perhaps as the jumping-off point for bigger and better achievements. After all, the list of past Brickyard winners is heavily populated with current and future NASCAR Hall of Famers.

Like his car at the end of Sunday’s race, Wallace almost certainly has more fuel in his tank.

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Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

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2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date	Race / Track
Sunday, February 2	Clash (Bowman Gray)
Sunday, February 16	DAYTONA 500
Sunday, February 23	Atlanta
Sunday, March 2	COTA
Sunday, March 9	Phoenix
Sunday, March 16	Las Vegas
Sunday, March 23	Homestead-Miami
Sunday, March 30	Martinsville
Sunday, April 6	Darlington
Sunday, April 13	Bristol
Sunday, April 27	Talladega
Sunday, May 4	Texas
Sunday, May 11	Kansas
Sunday, May 18	North Wilkesboro (All-Star Race)
Sunday, May 25	Charlotte
Sunday, June 1	Nashville Superspeedway
Sunday, June 8	Michigan
Sunday, June 15	Mexico City
Sunday, June 22	Pocono
Saturday, June 28	Atlanta
Sunday, July 6	Chicago Street Race
Sunday, July 13	Sonoma
Sunday, July 20	Dover
Sunday, July 27	Indianapolis
Sunday, August 3	Iowa
Sunday, August 10	Watkins Glen
Saturday, August 16	Richmond
Saturday, August 23	Daytona
Sunday, August 31	Darlington
Sunday, September 7	World Wide Technology Raceway
Saturday, September 13	Bristol
Sunday, September 21	New Hampshire
Sunday, September 28	Kansas
Sunday, October 5	Charlotte Roval
Sunday, October 12	Las Vegas
Sunday, October 19	Talladega
Sunday, October 26	Martinsville
Sunday, November 2	Phoenix (Championship)

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