Dell Sports – Nascar News

The Auckland, New Zealand, native, who won three titles in the Supercar Series, clinched his second NASCAR Cup Series victory by easily distancing his No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet over Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota.

The first-year full-time Cup driver won by 16.57 seconds in his 16th start this season and earned a spot in the 10-race postseason despite being 33rd in points entering the race.

The season's second of six twisting layouts was the first points-paying international Cup event since 1958 when the series competed in Toronto.

Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-five finishers.

Subbing for last week's winner Denny Hamlin (birth of child), Ryan Truex was 23rd in his first Cup start since 2014.

Hamlin's absence snapped his consecutive start streak at 406 Cup races, dating back to missing at Auto Club Speedway in California in March 2014.

The 20-lap Stage 1 was marred right away as rain began to fall on Lap 1. That brought polesitter van Gisbergen and almost the entire field to pit road for rain tires, though Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric stayed on slicks to no avail.

As cars slipped on the 2.42-mile, 15-turn track, Busch lost control of his No. 8 Chevrolet on Lap 7 and sparked a wreck in Turn 1 that also collected Kyle Larson, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe.

With the rain ceasing in the segment's second half and van Gisbergen passing Ty Gibbs for the lead, the No. 88 driver built a five-second lead but pitted with two laps remaining to change back to slicks.

Ryan Preece claimed Stage 1 and was followed by Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain.

Gibbs' No. 54 Toyota led most of Stage 2, but he pitted with two laps to go. van Gisbergen beat Bell and Bowman for the segment win at Lap 45.

With van Gisbergen having already pitted, the battle between the 88 and 54 took a twist when Carson Hocevar brought out a caution in a blind corner on Lap 66. That caused Gibbs to finally pit, lose multiple positions and end his chance of earning his first Cup victory.

The scheduled 45-minute qualifying session was called off 17 minutes early due to light rain, but the 36-year-old former Australian Supercar Series champion was easily the class of the field -- his pole-winning lap of 93.904 mph improving notably from his speed in Saturday afternoon's two practice sessions.

Smiling and referring to road courses as his "natural habitat," van Gisbergen was quite satisfied with his work in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet -- especially considering the unknown of a first-time race at the venue.

Inaugural races have been a plus on his resume. He made NASCAR history in 2023, famously winning the Chicago Street Race in his very first series start.

"It was a great session for us, we kind of lacked in a lot of areas yesterday (in practice) with our car getting the balance we wanted and went through a lot of challenges last night -- a couple I thought were maybe too much -- and started my lap and the car felt magic right from the start," van Gisbergen said.

The pole position and positive start of the weekend could prove especially important as Van Gisbergen is ranked 33rd in the championship standings, essentially needing a race victory to earn a position in the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series playoffs field.

"Certainly, a win fixes our year, gets you locked in," he said with a smile about the pole helping produce a victory Sunday.

"Win a race and it changes your year and then we can race with less pressure, and just keep learning, keep being methodical, keep getting better every week and then we can try some stuff," he continued. "We're very sort of welded in a box in the moment, just not wanting to get out of our comfort zone."

Another notable qualifying effort came from RFK Racing's Ryan Preece who will start second, on the front row alongside Van Gisbergen. Preece was second fastest -- and ran only a single lap in the session.

Van Gisbergen's Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain was third fastest in the No. 1 Chevrolet, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs who earned a front row start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race earlier in the day.

One of NASCAR's most respected road course drivers, Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell was fifth fastest in qualifying and will start alongside the season's three-race winner, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson on the third row.

Mexico native -- and huge crowd favorite -- Daniel Suarez was 10th fastest in the No. 99 Trackhouse Chevrolet.

NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick's William Byron will start 27th.

--PODIUM CELEBRATION

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is among the most versatile -- and well-travelled -- competitors in the NASCAR garage. And he had nothing but compliments for the organizers of the Mexico City race, noting it was kind of "fun" staying at the same hotel and sharing bus rides to the circuit with his competitors.

One of the unique features of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez course is that the top three drivers in the race will stand on a podium to receive trophies -- similar to the traditional Formula One victory celebration.

Larson likes the idea and thinks maybe it's something the sport would consider elsewhere as well.

"Maybe just your crown jewels events would be a good start, but I'm not sure," Larson said, adding, "Although it stinks sometimes when you're frustrated and you've got to force a smile, I think the fans appreciate seeing the top three drivers on the frontstretch, the photos and whatnot.

"You look at other forms of motorsports, and the post-race podium celebration -- like I look at Formula 1, you kind of celebrate the country that you're from, too, playing the national anthem. But I just think that's a nice added touch. So, yeah, I think there's ways to look at it and make it kind of feel like our own."

--RESPECTING SUAREZ

Many of the drivers this weekend remarked about the huge local support shown to Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, a Mexico native and the number leader of promoting NASCAR's race in Mexico City.

Asked what he would do if it came down to him and Suarez for the victory, veteran and road racing talent, Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell smiled and conceded he'd already thought about that scenario.

"I was reminiscing about that. I was like, you do not want to spin out (Daniel) Suarez here, I can tell you that," McDowell said. "You do not want to do that. That is not a part of your strategy for the weekend.

"But my crew chief and I were talking about it and he said, what do you mean? You're telling me last lap, last corner, you're not going to move him out of the way? I'm like, no, I'm not. I think that when it comes to that, in the moment, things happen. If you're side-by-side and you're racing hard and you're doing all those things, our sports like that, I'm not going to give up a win. You guys know how much wins mean in this sport and getting into the playoffs and everything that comes with it.

"You're never going to lay over for anybody. At the same time, I'm not going to go out of my way to rough him up, that's for sure. I think that goes the same for everybody. I think that's part of the weird etiquette at road course racing."

23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace conceded the grid was definitely going to be aware of the huge crowd favorite Suarez.

"I've seen (Team Penske driver) Ryan's (Blaney) video this morning, and if there is one rule this week -- is to not wreck Suarez, and I'm like I didn't think about that, but definitely adopting that rule too," Wallace said smiling.

--CHANGES IN ALTITUDES

Mexico City sits at 7,349 feet above sea level and is surrounded by mountains on three sides -- it's a vastly different setting than what the NASCAR national series regularly experience.

Some drivers even used a hypoxic tent to help them acclimate easier, others arrived early to get used to the climate and altitude.

"When it comes to the driver and the altitude training, there's a lot of different strategies and a lot of different philosophies," McDowell said. "I, by no means, feel like the scientist that has got it right, but I've been here a few times and I've experienced it a few times, so I know what works for me.

"It is a challenge. Honestly, it's part of the reason why I decided not to run the Xfinity race was because I felt like this is a really physically demanding weekend, getting acclimated to the altitude and road racing in general. Yes, extra laps and extra seat time would be great to be more familiar, but I felt like you're going to be at your limit on Sunday and I want to make sure that I have the best possible day of the week."

NASCAR makes history Sunday when it holds the first points-paying international Cup Series race in the modern era at the tricky Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, featuring 15 turns that drivers will battle over 100 laps (242.9 miles) at 7,350 feet.

It will be the first international points event since 1958 when Lee Petty won in Toronto driving an Oldsmobile in a 19-car field that featured son Richard in his racing debut.

One hotshot looking forward to a few right turns to go along with the lefts is Chase Elliott, the active leader in wins at the Cup Series' snaking layouts from New York to California to Mexico and points in between.

Owner of seven road wins, third to all-time leader Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight), Elliott has had no luck on them since 2022.

His only two victories in 2021 and the last on the winding courses were at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex., and the lengthy Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., which only made two appearances on the Cup schedule (2021, 2022) before being replaced.

The seven-time NASCAR Most Popular Driver award winner is having an incredibly consistent but completely unremarkable regular season in his 10th full campaign after running five races in 2015.

Through 15 races so far, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports pilot is winless -- he has had just one victory (Texas, 2024) since grabbing the checkers at Talladega on Oct. 2, 2022 -- but he is the only driver to finish every race in the top 20, placing him fifth in points (minus-112 to leader William Byron) with an 11.7 average finish.

However, Elliott had made a habit of winning in the Cup Series -- 19 total times, including five each in his championship season of 2020 and also in 2022.

But drivers generally have to lead to win -- though Denny Hamlin, who will miss the Mexico race for his child's birth, only led five laps Sunday on the way to career victory No. 57 at Michigan.

Elliott, 29, has paced the way on just 95 laps, while Byron, Kyle Larson and Hamlin -- 1-2-3 in points -- have combined for a whopping 2,074 circuits led.

Usually for Elliott, it has been a different story, one of flashy, checkered success, not just a good points day with no chance of glory, when it comes to racing on the slithering asphalt.

In 36 career road events, Elliott has nabbed seven wins, three poles and 20 top fives. He has led 489 laps with an average finish of 9.0.

The Dawsonville, Ga., driver is optimistic -- despite fans' criticism of crew chief Alan Gustafson and the team.

"We care a lot about each other," Elliott said. "I think it's important that we've stuck together through this, and I think there is light at the end of the tunnel somewhere. I also think we're going to be way better for it once we do get on the other side because we've had to learn some hard lessons."

Currently saddled with an 0-for-43 winless streak in points races, could the top racer on road courses desperately use a win Sunday and tie Stewart for second in wins?

Let's just say he would have no problem bringing a trophy through customs when he returns.

Hamlin will stay in North Carolina with his fiancee Jordan Fish, two daughters and baby son. Ryan Truex will drive in his stead.

"See you guys in Pocono," Hamlin posted on social media. "We are happy to announce the birth of our son. Everyone is doing well. My main priority is to be here at home for Jordan and our family over the next few days when she is able to go home and we transition to life as a family of five."

Fish was nearly two weeks past her due date and Hamlin was prepared to abandon the Michigan race if she went into labor. But the call never came and the veteran posted his third victory of the season and 57th of his career. He became the all-time wins leader for Joe Gibbs Racing, breaking a tie with Kyle Busch.

Hamlin currently ranks third in the Cup Series standings after 15 races. His streak of getting behind the wheel in 406 consecutive races -- which dates back to 2014 -- will come to an end in Mexico City.

NASCAR is expected to grant Hamlin a waiver so he can compete in the playoffs for the Cup Series Championship.

Truex is Gibbs' reserve driver and will compete in a Cup series event for the first time since 2014.

Bowman, 32, made contact with Cole Custer on Lap 67, causing him to crash into the wall and lifting the rear tires off the ground. As a result of hitting the wall at approximately 150 mph, Bowman was done for the day.

Bowman, who is dealing with soreness in the aftermath of the incident, missed five races late in the 2022 season after sustaining a concussion in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Two years ago, a sprint car crash injured his back and caused him to sit out three Cup races.

Hendrick lined up Anthony Alfredo to be ready to fill in for Bowman as a precaution. Alfredo, a regular on the NASCAR Xfinity Series and a simulator driver for Hendrick, has 42 Cup Series starts under his belt, including this year at Talladega. He has logged two top-10 finished in the Cup Series.

Bowman, whose most recent Cup Series win came last summer at the Chicago Street Course, looks to return to the winner's circle at another road course this weekend. After 15 races this season, he is 13th in the championship standings despite finishing 27th or lower in seven of the past nine races. Five of those races saw Bowman come in 35th or higher.

Sunday's race is aptly named Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The industry has long been preparing for this inaugural visit to the renowned 2.42-mile, 15-turn road course in the middle of bustling Mexico City. And perhaps no one is more eager for NASCAR's Mexican arrival than Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, who has made multiple visits to his home country in support of the event.

"I'm super excited, regardless of what happens on Sunday," said the Monterrey, Mexico-native, who has competed -- and won three times -- on the track's oval-configuration while racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series, which will also be competing this weekend.

"I'm super excited for the event. I'm super excited to live in the moment because the first time is going to only happen once. I'm really trying to be as present as possible; enjoy the moment and try to execute the best possible weekend that we can. We know that we are capable of winning the race, but that's not the goal. The goal is the execution of the entire weekend, and hopefully the win is the result of the execution part."

Suarez, who scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win on a road course at Sonoma, Calif., in 2022, has been a vital supporter of this initiative. For months, the popular driver has starred in the NASCAR commercials promoting the Mexico race -- the script depicting him trying to teach fellow racers how to speak in Spanish.

"At first, I thought man, I don't know if this is going to work out, like, I don't think this is going to be funny," Suarez said smiling. "And honestly, it turned out amazing. I give a lot of credit to NASCAR for trying all these different things.

"I think people are liking it. Drivers are embracing it. And, obviously, I'm having fun with it. I'm the one teaching the language, so for the first time, I feel like I'm in my zone, so that's good."

Suarez is certainly among the group of drivers hoping a new venue may produce different results. The driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is ranked 28th in the championship with 11 regular season races remaining to set the 16-driver playoff field.

Others traditionally considered road course aces similarly see this as a big opportunity to punch a playoff ticket.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger, Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell and Suarez' Trackhouse teammate Shane Van Gisbergen are all some of the most talented road racers in the sport and all are still looking to earn a victory this season. Many sit well below the 16th-place playoff cut line.

Six of the 14 regular-season races in the Next Gen Era have been won by drivers ranked 16th or worse in the standings at the time of their victory.

"Everyone expects us to perform on road courses," said New Zealand's Van Gisbergen, who made the ultimate NASCAR debut winning at the Chicago street race two years ago in his very first start.

"Not that we have been hanging out for (road courses), but the ovals have been a big learning process the last couple of months. It will be nice for sure to have a bit of a break and races on the types of courses I'm used to which means turning right."

Hendrick Motorsports has won at eight different road courses - the most in NASCAR history. And four of the remaining 11 races will be on road courses.

Hendrick's William Byron continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings -- up by 41 points on teammate Kyle Larson -- and both are considered favorites this weekend. Hendrick drivers -- Byron (two), Larson (two) and Bowman (one) -- have won five of the last eight road course races.

If Elliott wins this weekend, he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart for second most road course wins all-time (eight).

Last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin claimed his first career Xfinity Series win at the Mexico road course in 2006. Hamlin, Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski are the only drivers to have raced at the circuit - competing in the Xfinity Series there. Busch won the 2008 Xfinity Series race there.

RFK's Chris Buescher, who finished runner-up to Hamlin last week at Michigan, boasts the best road course average finish (8.7) in the Next Gen cars.

--NASCAR Xfinity Series set for Mexico return

The NASCAR Xfinity Series marks its return to Mexico with Saturday afternoon's The Chilango 150.

The series has held four previous races at the famed Autodrome Hermanos Rodriquez - that Busch won.

This is the second of seven road course races on the schedule. Series rookie, JR Motorsports' Connor Zilisch won at Circuit of The Americas from pole position.

JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier earned his third win of the season in the series' most recent race, two weeks ago at Nashville. Allgaier is the reigning series champion.

It marks the fifth time in the last eight years the veteran has scored at least three victories in a season. He holds a 92-point advantage in the championship standings over fellow three-race winner, Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill.

The Illinois native has answered his first career title run with another top-shelf season in the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet. He leads all drivers in laps led (638) and top-10 finishes (10). He's only eight top-10 finishes from 300 in his career -- a feat never before accomplished in the series.

With 12 regular-season races remaining and six playoff spots still to be claimed, Mexico City certainly presents all the makings of an ultra-competitive weekend.

Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs have the most road course wins (four) in this weekend's field. Interestingly, nine of the series' last 11 road course races have been won by just three drivers (Mayer, Van Gisbergen and Zilisch). And Mayer, who is ranked third in the standings, is still looking for his first win of the year.

Gibbs (No. 19 Toyota) is among three NASCAR Cup Series regulars -- also Suarez (No. 9 Chevy) and Christopher Bell (No. 24 Toyota) -- racing Saturday. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie, Andres Perez De Lara will be making his Xfinity Series debut.

Qualifying is slated for Saturday morning and historically has proven very significant on road courses with the polesitter winning 10 of the last 18 road course races.

--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota No. 11 caught Byron's No. 24 Chevrolet with four circuits left on the two-mile track, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver ran out of gas coming to the white flag, landing in 28th place.

Hamlin beat Chris Buescher by 1.09 seconds for his third Cup Series win this season and third at MIS. His last victory there came in June 2011.

JGR teammates Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace were third and fourth. Kyle Larson finished fifth.

Byron grabbed the lead away from polesitter Chase Briscoe on Lap 12 of Stage 1, but Buescher passed Byron on Lap 36 of the 45-lap segment and earned his first stage win of 2025.

Byron finished second while Hamlin, Briscoe and Josh Berry completed the top five in the incident-free stage.

The first caution for cause waved on Lap 60 when Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek, running just inside the top 20, spun on the backstretch to bunch up the field again, but seven laps later a hard wreck occurred in Turn 2.

Riding in the bottom lane, last week's winner Ryan Blaney tapped Cole Custer's No. 41, triggering a mess that ended up with Alex Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet crashing violently nose-first into the wall and Briscoe spinning after being clipped by Custer's Ford. That prompted a red-flag condition for cleanup.

As Stage 2 neared its end, Blaney slapped the wall on his own in the No. 12 Ford and spun down the speedway, an unfortunate fifth caution for Christopher Bell, who pitted shortly before Blaney's mishap.

The closing laps of the stage featured a spirited battle between Byron, Reddick, Austin Cindric and Carson Hocevar. Byron made the winning pass on the final lap for the stage win while Cindric was able to hold off Michigan native Hocevar for second.

Hocevar took the point on Lap 152, but the Spire Motorsports driver suffered a flat left rear tire with 19 circuits left, turning over the lead to Byron. Hocevar finished 29th.

Briscoe's No. 19 JGR Toyota turned a lap of 195.514 mph for his fourth pole of the season -- just besting Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, who will start alongside with a lap of 195.317 in the No. 8 Chevrolet. This equals Busch's best start of the season (also second at Talladega, Ala.).

Briscoe's work marks the first time a driver has won pole positions at three consecutive races since Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson did it last April at Richmond, Michigan, and Texas.

"I was surprised truthfully it held on,'' the 30-year-old Indiana native said of his fast lap. "It was not as easy as I thought it was going to be just holding it wide open. But our Bass Pro Shops has been pretty fast in race trim and I thought we could have been even better.

"It will be nice starting up front and we've been able to do that now three weeks in a row but haven't been able to execute with it, so hopefully third time is a charm and hopefully we can finally get one on Sunday.''

Briscoe's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, was third quickest in the No. 11 Toyota and will start alongside the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader, William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Interestingly, neither of those two championship teams has won on the 2-mile Michigan oval in a decade.

The last win for Hendrick came in 2014 and the last for Gibbs in 2015.

However, Hendrick's lineup now boasts a three-time Michigan winner in Larson, who scored his career first series victory at the track in 2016 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson will roll off fifth Sunday alongside another former Michigan winner (2023) Roush Fenway Keselowski's Chris Buescher.

"I feel fine, that was an unfortunately part failure there,'' Larson said, assuring he was okay after flipping his car in a World of Outlaws race Friday night.

"Felt good there today and held it wide open in qualifying, as did the whole field.

"Hopefully, we can find a little more turn tomorrow. I think all of us being very similar on speed it will be difficult in traffic so having some turn will be a benefit. That's our main objective at this point.

"But overall happy to qualify fifth there. That's honestly a little bit better than I thought we would be. Now we'll rest up and study and try to be ready for tomorrow.''

Defending race winner, 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick was 12th in qualifying - along with last week's Nashville race winner, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney suffering a tire problem in practice. Blaney will roll off 13th.

--RFK'S BUESCHER FOR THE WIN

Judging by the past two years, the summer months have been productive for Buescher.

Last year he earned his only win of the season in September at Watkins Glen.

Two years ago, the driver of the No. 17 RKF Ford scored all three of his victories in the summer - back-to-back at Richmond (July 30) and Michigan (Aug. 7), then won again at the end of August at Daytona International Speedway's regular season finale.

Heading into this week's Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, Buescher is the only one among the three RFK drivers ranked above the Playoff cutoff line - 15th in the championship by Playoff standings; six points up on Kyle Busch in that last Playoff position and only eight points up on his RFK teammate Ryan Preece in 17th.

Buescher is of course hopeful that he can reclaim some of that Michigan magic on the two-miler. He led a race high 52 of 200 laps and beat Martin Truex Jr. by a slight 152-second for his win two years ago. He has only three top 10s in 14 Michigan starts - but two in the last two races (win and sixth last year). It's not enough to make him over-confident but does give him some optimism heading into the all-important summer months of competition. With points so close, a victory may be the best option to earn a Playoff bid.

"You can't depend on points to get you in the playoffs when it's as tight as it is every week,'' Buescher said. "I think that's been our mindset, which means that ultimately wherever we bounce around that [Playoff cutoff] line we'll be aware of it, but it's a matter of figuring out how to go win races and we haven't done that yet.

"We've not been quite good enough and we're working on trying to clean up some of the detail work and study a little harder and be better from my end behind the wheel and make it to where we basically lock ourselves in on that side of it and don't have to have any of that thought in the back of our heads.

"But I certainly don't want it to be what we're sitting here thinking of how can we get two points here, three points there and try and just feel like we can skate our way in. It doesn't work. Ultimately, you can't count on that when it comes down to the end."

--HOCEVAR AND STENHOUSE

In last weekend's race at Nashville Superspeedway, 22-year-old Carson Hocevar and veteran Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided on track -- ending the day for Stenhouse. But Hocevar was able to rally to a second-place finish - tying his career best showing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

After the race, Stenhouse was understandably riled, but both drivers report that they have spoken, and all is good moving forward even if they don't necessarily agree on how last week played out.

"Me and him both have the reputation, I guess, of being aggressive at times and everything, so at that one point, we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, we've raced each other very well together, right?'' the Michigan-native Hocevar said Saturday morning, before practice. "It clashes together. So, yeah, I mean we've had no issues before, as he had said, and I feel like we've had a decent relationship leading up to this."

Stenhouse told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week that he was satisfied with the conversation between the two, "I thought it was productive and, based off his comments, I felt like it was received productive."

Hocevar, who qualified 14th for the NASCAR Cup Series race and is also competing in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, seemed at peace with where things sit and conceded he would rather be talking about his No. 77 Spire Motorsports team's improvement. He's already had a career best pair of runner-up efforts and also earned three top-10s - half of his full season total last year.

Asked Saturday if he was satisfied to be known for his aggressive driving style - some reporters comparing him to his hero Dale Earnhardt - Hocevar insisted he's just being himself.

"Everything about me is real... like I'm not trying to play a part, try to fit a role or trying to pretend to be anybody,'' he said. "But, you know, it's for everybody else to decide on what they get and perceive of me. I know who I am and, you know, ultimately, I want to be known as me and sometimes that leads to comparisons."

--PENSKE FOCUS

Last week's Nashville race winner, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney was asked about the relief he felt finally earning that first trophy of the year -- and guaranteed Playoff position -- after being so close to wins multiple times this season. He insisted nothing would really "change" for his or his team's approach going forward.

"It's really nothing different," the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said. "We approach every week trying to win the race and no matter what spot you're in, whether you're not locked in on wins or you are. We did a great job last week of finally closing one out and you just try to do it again.

"A lot of people talk about that. Is there a mindset change when you win and you get locked in? I've never really believed that. I've always, to me at least and our group, it's just we prepare every week like you're trying to win the race, whether you've won one, zero or five it's the same thing."

--BABY WATCH

Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin remains on "baby watch" for the second weekend. His fiancee, Jordan, is due to give birth to a baby boy -- their third child -- at any time. Hamlin flew back to his Charlotte-area home following Saturday afternoon qualifying to be with Jordan and will return to Michigan just prior to Sunday's green flag.

The former Cup Series champion was running second in a World of Outlaws race at the Plymouth Dirt Track when his winged vehicle flipped end-over-end before slamming into the catch fence.

Larson, 32, who was able to climb out of the car unscathed, said that the right rear axle "or something" broke.

"It just kind of launched me, and I was along for the ride," he said, per Motorsport.com. "Bummer, but I felt really good pacing Rico (Abreu) there and just finally catching traffic and get racing there. Glad I'm OK, big hit but all-in-all, feel fine."

In addition to racing stock cars and sprint cars, Larson has also competed in the Indianapolis 500 in each of the past two years.

Larson is scheduled to be behind the wheel of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in Sunday's Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

The 2021 Cup Series champion has three wins and 10 top-10 finishes this season and ranks second in the Cup standings, 48 points behind leader William Byron.

Hocevar's aim: Winning his first race in NASCAR's most prestigious series.

The 2024 Rookie of the Year is 17th in driver points, just two behind Ford driver Ryan Preece, who sits on the north side of the cut line with 289 points to Hocevar's 287.

Hocevar has been the lead dog for Spire Motorsports with two top-five finishes in his 14 starts, both runner-up efforts behind race winners Christopher Bell at Atlanta and Ryan Blaney at Nashville.

While seemingly on the brink of being victorious against stock car racing's top aces, the Portage, Mich., native returned home early this week to race at Berlin Raceway, where he obliterated the Money in the Bank 150 super late model field on Tuesday night.

It was his third career victory in the event, which also featured fellow Michigander and Cup competitor Erik Jones placing fourth. It also followed Hocevar's Truck Series victory last month at the Heart of Health Care 200.

"Super good to go back-to-back almost here, with (the 200), now Money in the Bank and hopefully we do the sweep," Hocevar said.

Now Hocevar will try his luck at Michigan, where Tyler Reddick is the defending champion. Hocevar placed 10th last year.

Honing his skills and getting more track time is vital to the 22-year-old Hocevar's development. Plenty of Cup drivers would surely agree with that assessment.

Hocevar has impressed many in the business with his speed because he flat-out has it. And he is blazing tracks across the country in the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire, not for elite stables like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske.

Yet his success has come at a price.

While Ross Chastain is generally considered the hardest driver to pass, Hocevar certainly holds the current distinction of being the hardest driver to race with, against, beside or just all of the above.

The result has been a motley collection of wrecked cars including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who did not receive a call this week from Hocevar after the nose of his Chevrolet booted the No. 47 to a last-place finish at Nashville last Sunday.

"Here's the thing about Carson: Carson's fast and is -- to me, he's able to keep making these mistakes and not let it mentally bother him," Kevin Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast on Tuesday. "(He's) got the mental ability to just let it go. It didn't bother him the rest of the race. It isn't the first time that this has happened this year or last year and it is going to ruffle some feathers along the way."

But Harvick, who had many stubborn tussles on the track during his 23-year Cup career, had some advice for Hocevar.

"That stuff will eventually come back to bite you because you're going to get wrecked when you get around those guys (you've wrecked), or they're going to squeeze you in the fence or put you in a bad position or block you in the pits," the 2014 Cup champ warned.

Added Dale Earnhardt Jr., "People are probably gonna go crazy over this one, but Hocevar, a little bit, is kind of like a young Dale Earnhardt in a way. Makes a lot of mistakes and ruffles a lot of feathers, but he's very fast, very aggressive."

Back home in Michigan this weekend, Hocevar likely stands a good chance of crossing that threshold, knocking like a new visitor and waiting for his hometown track to let him in to Victory Lane for the first time in his 60th Cup start.

But will the field of drivers allow it?

Chastain, the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, currently sits ninth in the Cup Series standings through the first 14 races. Meanwhile, Trackhouse teammates Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen are 28th and 33rd, respectively.

Trackhouse, while a very respectable organization, is not one that can consistently provide cars capable of winning races on pure pace.

Chastain's ability to outperform his equipment was perhaps never more noticeable than in the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. Driving a backup car after a crash in practice, he started 40th and finished first in one of NASCAR's crown jewel events. In a David Pearson-esque manner, Chastain quietly drove to the front of the pack before getting around leader William Byron with six laps to go and driving away.

Chastain's remarkable effort furthered his reputation as a driver who is used to getting the most out of a car.

"We don't have the speed that we've had the last couple of years, and the sport kind of ebbs and flows, and teams have periods of a lot of winning and then get passed by and have to kind of regroup or re-engineer the team to get back. That's kind of like where we're at right now," owner Justin Marks said after Chastain's win in the Coke 600.

"Ross, you know, he's such an elite talent, and he's really one of the founding members of this organization. What I've said throughout the year is, the problem that we have to diagnose is the fact that we don't unload with a lot of speed."

There was a time in 2022 when it looked like Chastain would no longer have to push the limits of machines that weren't up to winning.

In the first year of NASCAR's Next Gen car, Chastain notched the first two wins of his career with Trackhouse en route to a Championship 4 appearance. But over the last two and a half years, the top dogs of the Cup Series -- Hendrick, Penske and Gibbs -- have figured things out and reclaimed their spots on the mountaintop, slowly snuffing out the parity present in the Cup Series in 2022.

Going into 2025, it was clear that Trackhouse was not at the level it was in 2022. Chastain managed to win two races in 2023 and one in 2024, but the speed that was under the hood of the No. 1 in 2022 was long gone. If Chastain wanted to get back to both victory lane and the postseason in 2025, he was going to have to do so with cars that were far from the best the garage had to offer.

That's where Chastain's rough-and-tumble career proves to be one of his most valuable assets. For years, he drove for mid-pack teams in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. When a top-tier Xfinity Series program in Chip Ganassi Racing prepared to sign Chastain for the 2019 season, an FBI raid on the home of the CEO of DC Solar, who would've been Chastain's primary sponsor, shut down CGR's Xfinity Series program. In the Cup Series, Chastain raced for the likes of Premium Motorsports, a backmarker team with no prospect of ever sniffing the front of the field.

So when Marks and Trackhouse came knocking and signed Chastain in 2022, his aggressive, no-holds-barred driving style stuck around. Today, it's his trademark -- there isn't another driver getting everything out of his car quite like Chastain.

If there's one good thing about Trackhouse's speed lagging slightly behind its peers, it's that the garage is finally seeing how valuable Chastain is as a driver. In a year where Trackhouse has struggled to unload with speed for practice and qualifying on Saturday, Chastain has dragged his No. 1 to seven top-10 finishes. His teammates, on the other hand, have a total of four between them. Chastain has also been the highest-finishing Trackhouse driver in nine of the 14 races.

On the heels of an 11th-place finish at Nashville on June 1, Chastain is looking for his second victory of the season at Michigan on Sunday. If the No. 1 doesn't have winning pace, don't be surprised if you see him mounting another patented charge into the top-10 in a manner that makes him one of the most valuable drivers in NASCAR.

23XI Racing -- whose owners include Jordan and NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin -- and Front Row Motorsports refused to sign a take-it-or-leave-it charter agreement NASCAR presented in September, while the other 13 organizations in the Cup Series proceeded to sign.

The two holdouts filed an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR the following month. In December, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell granted the teams' request for a preliminary injunction to be recognized as chartered teams while their lawsuit was active.

NASCAR slammed that decision and brought an appeal to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. On Thursday, a three-judge panel unanimously ruled in NASCAR's favor and vacated the preliminary injunction.

"In short, because we have found no support for the proposition that a business entity or person violates the antitrust laws by requiring a prospective participant to give a release for past conduct as a condition for doing business, we cannot conclude that the plaintiffs made a clear showing that they were likely to succeed on the merits of that theory," the decision read in part. "And without satisfaction of the likelihood-of-success element, the plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction. ... We therefore conclude that the district court abused its discretion in entering the preliminary injunction that it did."

23XI Racing and Front Row are still allowed to compete in the Cup Series, but having charter status guarantees them automatic spots in races and they would earn more money with a charter than as "open" teams. An open team must qualify their way into each race.

They can also file for a petition for rehearing.

The 2023 Cup champion took the lead late in Stage 2 of the 300-lap event -- NASCAR's 14th points-paying race of the season -- and stayed in front for the remainder to notch his first victory of 2025 and first at the Tennessee track, topping Hocevar by 2.83 seconds.

The Team Penske driver, who won for the 14th time in his career, is the fifth different winner in Nashville's five Cup races.

Denny Hamlin, making his 700th career start -- becoming the 22nd driver in NASCAR history to do so -- led 79 laps and finished third. Defending race winner Joey Logano and William Byron rounded out the top five.

In his 450th career start, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was tagged by Hocevar on Lap 106 and hit the Turn 4 wall.

Stenhouse, who finished last (39th), was bidding to join Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch in winning in outing No. 450.

While polesitter Chase Briscoe pulled away from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin early, a problem arose for Kyle Larson as his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got loose, went up the 1.33-mile concrete oval and lost speed. The 2021 champ then slipped to the rear of the field and tried to regroup.

After pit service, Briscoe, who led 51 laps in Stage 1, cycled back around as the leader, but Hamlin moved by the JGR No. 19 and set his sights on Larson, who was in position to be lapped as the 85-lap segment wound down.

Hamlin won Stage 1 with Tyler Reddick and Briscoe close behind. Larson managed to stay on the lead lap and make up the distance lost on the circuit.

Following the Hocevar-Stenhouse incident, Alex Bowman's No. 48 got loose and took out Noah Gragson's No. 4 Ford for the fourth caution on Lap 114. Then Christopher Bell spun off the nose of Erik Jones' No. 43 for another yellow on the ensuing restart.

Hamlin showed the way in the 399-mile race's middle portion, but Blaney's No. 12 and Byron's No. 24 came to life as Stage 2 neared its end.

Blaney's Ford built a 2 1/2-second lead and easily won the stage over Byron and Hamlin.

The 32-year-old Floridian turned in one of the most dramatic wins in recent history in the sport's longest race, rallying from last place on the grid (40th) to Victory Lane. Chastain beamed acknowledging the ring on his finger, and said it was purposeful -- providing continued motivation in a season that he hopes kicks into gear now at the official midpoint of the regular-season calendar and at a track where he's won before (2023).

"We have a ‘first win' ring that we had made at Trackhouse from COTA," Chastain said of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at the Austin, Texas, road course.

"(Former team owner) Matt Kaulig had win rings made from Daytona in the Xfinity series and now this one. It's a pretty cool collection. I'm not a big ring guy. I'm not a jewelry guy. But these just have so much meaning in it. It says ‘Champion' and it says, ‘Coca-Cola 600 2025.'

"Definitely going to take it off now for practice," he continued. "But it has been motivation this week because this week was a grind. And sometimes I just had to touch the ring and be like -- OK, smile, go to the next thing, make the next flight, get home, like all the stuff."

With the victory, Chastain has now earned his entry into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. It marked only the third top-five showing of the season for the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team, but the second in three races after Chastain's runner-up effort in Texas. The win moves Chastain up to eighth place in the championship standings, one of eight drivers with a victory through the first 13 races.

--Ranked fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, Chase Elliott has certainly established himself best among those drivers without a win. But for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, that is not enough.

Two of his Hendrick teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, are leading the rankings. Consistency has certainly been key to Elliott's season with seven top-10 and three top-five finishes through the opening 13 races. His best effort has been fourth place -- at both COTA and Martinsville.

He has been particularly good at this week's Nashville concrete 1.33-miler winning the race in 2022 and scoring a fourth-place finish there in 2023. Looking ahead to next week at Michigan, Elliott has an impressive 10 top-10 finishes -- including three runner-up efforts -- in 14 starts.

"I thought we had a really good car last week at Charlotte," Elliott said. "I think it's a product of a lot of hard work and just a collective effort of trying to make some improvement. That's always the goal, just keep chipping away. I think the team is in a really good spot."

Elliott knows he's in a good place points standings-wise, but the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion and perennial Most Popular Driver isn't satisfied with "pointing" his way into a title run. His last victory came a year ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

"Certainly better to be in that position than on the other side of the fence, no doubt," Elliott said of his points position. "But I'd be lying if I said that was my top focus. It's just not. I think that if you're worried about barely getting into the playoffs, I think you have some work to do.

"It really is kind of the best way I can think about that. And just to talk about my thought process, I want to be better than that. I want to be in the group of people of how many playoff points do you have, not just barely getting in. Our expectations and goals are above that, and we hope that we can achieve all of our goals."

--Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski is fresh off his best finish of the year in the No. 6 Ford Mustang -- a fifth place run at Charlotte, where his five laps out front marked the first laps he's led this season.

Amazingly, the effort was the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion's best work since an 11th-place showing at Las Vegas in March. While he didn't celebrate in victory lane, he got a lot closer and that is something he hopes his team can build off.

"Just trying not to do too much, we're hitting our stride as an organization particularly with the six-team," said Keselowski, who is ranked 32nd in the championship standings and hoping to earn a Playoff berth with a victory. His last win came last spring at Darlington, S.C.

"The cars are developing more speed. Our execution's getting better. It's an exciting time for us outside of looking where we are in the points standings. We need to build off of that and incrementally inch our way toward being able to win and I think we're really close to that right now.

"Last week was a really positive moment for us. The last run of the race we passed at least a half dozen cars and ran the fastest laps and did all the things that make you feel like you can go win."

Keselowski has never scored a top 10 at Nashville in four NASCAR Cup Series starts at the track. He heads next week to his home state, Michigan, where he has 15 top-10 finishes in 27 starts, including three runner-up finishes. He has finished top-10 in three of the last four races there.

"Last year, I don't think we had as much pace but were getting good finishes," he added. "We have more potential now but didn't have the execution we had last year. I'm just eager to get the execution to match the potential."

--Ty Dillon's grandfather Richard Childress was a longtime dear friend and championship car owner for the late, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Sr. When asked if Dillon had watched any of the well-received and recently released Amazon Prime documentary "Earnhardt," he conceded he hasn't had a chance yet, but smiled recalling some fond memories he shared with the great champion.

"I was very young at that time, but I just knew Dale (Earnhardt Sr.) from my perspective as a guy that when we were little and we were at the racetrack, he would come and bug my brother (Austin) and I, whether it was pinching us behind the neck or grabbing us as hard as he could to get our attention," Dillon said.

"And we didn't really like that. We were kind of scared of him. But man, we grew up every weekend, and where Dale finished determined our week. We got pizza if Dale won, so that was a celebration in our house."

Dillon, driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, is making his first NASCAR Cup Series start at Nashville since 2023 when he led four laps but finished 32nd. He is ranked 31st in the championship standings.

"Just knowing that kind of perspective after being in sport as a driver myself was crazy," Dillon said of the Earnhardt docuseries. "But the impact (Earnhardt) had on my grandfather, my family, and everybody at RCR, and what that has become because of him and my grandfather's relationship, obviously means so much to myself and our family and everybody in sport.

"He was a giant in our sport and a legend. It's just awesome that we continue to talk about him, and the documentary continues to bring his name to the light because he has done so much for what the sport is."

--Ryan Truex will be trackside this weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing, ready to serve as a relief driver for Denny Hamlin should Hamlin's fiance, Jordan, go into labor with their third child.

Briscoe was among the very last to take to the 1.33-mile concrete oval turning in a track-record lap of 164.395 mph in the No. 19 JGR Toyota. He and his teammate Hamlin -- a two-time Nashville pole winner -- will lead the field to green.

Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron, the current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader in the No. 24 Chevrolet, and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota are one row behind.

"I guess I just pushed my head farther forward as I was coming to the line," Briscoe joked of the tight margin between the teammates to decide pole position.

"Honestly, I thought I ran a decent lap," Briscoe said. "Just a smooth lap, and sometimes that's what it takes. Obviously, a good Saturday for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota and, obviously, two weeks in a row we've been able to do that now, which is nice. Just need to put a Sunday together now.

"Track position is going to be really, really big here tomorrow and that's the name of the game most every place we go, certainly at this place. So, hopefully, we can maintain track position and keep it up front all day long."

Hamlin agreed about the significance of a good starting position.

"Certainly going to be a track position-type race, and with very minimum (tire) falloff, even in practice I kept having to back up from the guys that I was catching." said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota. "Obviously, great job for our Progressive Toyota team to get us a good starting spot and pit stall.

"I would have loved to have number one, but Chase just ruined that," he added smiling. "Really happy for the whole Joe Gibbs Racing team to get the whole front row there. I definitely think we can race from that spot."

Reddick held the number one position on the speed chart for much of qualifying, only to be bested later by his team co-owner Hamlin, Briscoe, and Byron late in the session. Last year's regular-season champion, Reddick was fastest in practice in both single-lap speed and 10-lap average speed.

Last week's Charlotte race winner Ross Chastain -- the 2023 Nashville winner -- was fifth-fastest in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, followed by RFK Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski, who set the fastest time among the Fords.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, Spire Motorsports' Michael McDowell, Team Penske's Joey Logano and RFK's Christopher Buescher rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.

Former race winner Kyle Larson (2021) will start 28th and his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, the 2022 Nashville winner, will roll off 11th.

After battling late into last Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the RFK Racing driver said he could have used more laps to score his first win of 2025.

In Keselowski's estimation, 100 more miles would have helped to improve on a fifth-place finish that gave him his first top-10 result of 2025.

"We got mixed up in some of the different stuff in the midpoint of the race and just clawed our way out," said Keselowski, who led five laps. "I feel like if we could have got to the lead, we could have won the race.

"I wish it was a 700-mile race."

The night got better for Keselowski as the race went longer, which is pretty much how the season has played out for the Rochester Hills, Mich., native.

The first third of the season is far from what was expected from the No. 6 Ford.

After the dust had settled in Kansas on May 11 and Kyle Larson had pulled into a tie with Christopher Bell for the series lead with three wins, Keselowski found himself in a wretched locale in the standings -- 33rd out of 36 drivers.

He is currently in 32nd, just ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst and Cole Custer. The trio slotting in front of Keselowski are Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Justin Haley. It is far from the glory days for Keselowski, who won five races during his 2012 title year and six two years later.

Since his four-victory showing during the shortened 2020 COVID season, he has won just twice in 157 races: Talladega in 2021, Darlington last May.

In four career starts at Nashville, Keselowski has posted a best finish of 11th two seasons ago and was 25th last year, although he has won in support races.

RFK Racing received good news this week when a portion of the penalty on the No. 17 Ford driven by Chris Buescher was rescinded.

While crew chief Scott Graves has already served the two-race suspension for the front bumper cover infraction discovered at Kansas, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel reduced Buescher's 60-point penalty in half Wednesday, allowing the Texas driver to advance from 23rd to 16th in the standings.

On Sunday, Ross Chastain ran down William Byron over the final 37 laps to capture the longest race of the season and become the ninth different winner in the past nine races at Charlotte.

After fending off a battle with Denny Hamlin, Byron withstood a charge from Chastain until six laps remained. Chastain picked up his first win of the season by a mere 0.673 seconds and did it in a backup car while starting 40th and last in the field.

While Chastain led just eight laps in Charlotte, Joey Logano led just nine laps while winning at Nashville last year in a fifth overtime. Logano held off Zane Smith and Tyler Reddick while running the last 110 laps on a single tank of fuel.

Byron leads the current points standings with one win and six top-5 finishes, while Larson trails by 29 points after three wins and eight top 5s. Larson leads in playoff points with 23.

Benefiting from experience gained during a Goodyear tire test on March 18-19 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Briscoe put his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the pole for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Briscoe toured the challenging 1.5-mile intermediate track in 29.532 seconds (182.852 mph) during Saturday's time trials to edge Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson (182.729 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.02 seconds.

Larson, of course, hopes to complete the Indianapolis 500 before taking the green flag from the front row at Charlotte.

The Busch Light Pole Award is Briscoe's first at Charlotte, his second of the season and fourth of his career. It's also his second pole of the season for a Crown Jewel race, following his top qualifying effort for the season-opening Daytona 500.

It was also a dramatic improvement in Briscoe's average starting position of 15.8 this season, before Saturday's pole-winning run is factored in.

"It was not the most perfect lap, by any means, but it was good enough," said Briscoe, who joined the JGR roster this season. "Yeah, I'm super excited to finally get the results on Saturday that I think we deserve.

"This is also a great opportunity to lead the field to green for 600 miles... So I look forward to (Sunday) and see if we can keep it there."

William Byron, who represented Chevrolet in the tire test, qualified third at 182.642 mph, followed by Chris Buescher (182.063 mph in the fastest Ford) and AJ Allmendinger (181.916 mph). John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman and defending race winner Christopher Bell claimed the sixth through 10th positions, respectively, on the starting grid.

Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, making his second start of the season and the 700th of his career, qualified 17th at 180.445 mph.

"Fun day of learning," Johnson said. "Practice, I just kind of took my time getting up to speed, getting reaccustomed to the car and the track. I felt pretty comfortable at the end of practice and getting a feel for things, and then had a few minutes to think about it, and send it in qualifying.

"Qualifying went well. I kept getting stronger and stronger each corner I made. Sadly, I was just a little under-committed for Turns 1 and 2, but had the balance right, or the commitment right for Turns 3 and 4 and had a respectable lap. I do think we have potential in the car and can get up there with John Hunter (Nemechek), but I'm very happy to start kind of mid-pack there and have a good pit road pick as well."

Ross Chastain blew a tire during practice and backed into the Turn 4 wall. He did not make a qualifying run and will start the Coca-Cola 600 from the rear in a backup car. Chastain was fastest in 10-consecutive-lap average before the accident.

Carson Hocevar, who posted the fastest single lap in final Cup practice on Saturday, spun off Turn 4 during his qualifying run and will start 39th in the 40-car field.

Kyle Busch, who did not turn a lap in practice because of power steering issues, was 24th-fastest in time trials. Busch and Richard Childress Racing announced on Saturday that the two-time Cup champion would continue with the team in 2026.

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Connor Zilisch qualified 33rd in his return to action after being sidelined by a lower back injury sustained at Talladega in April. Zilisch is competing in a Cup race on an oval for the first time.

Busch, 40, has won 63 Cup Series races since joining the circuit in 2003. However, his last victory came in St. Louis on June 4, 2023.

"This has extended our contract out another year, and we're really excited," team owner Richard Childress said. "You know, Kyle has been great to work with. Everybody had questions going in. I love a driver that (doesn't) like to lose, and we've worked hard. We've got some exciting things coming up.

"He and I are both alike in one area that we don't like to lose; we want to win races. I still think that Kyle will win him a championship, and we want it to happen at RCR and that's our plans. We got a lot of new things coming. This car is a lot different. It's so engineer-driven that we're stepping our engineering up more, and I'm excited about the future."

Although mired in a 69-race winless streak, Busch feels there are plenty of good times ahead.

"I give a lot of credit to Richard and him believing in me and giving me the opportunity to be able to come over here and have a chance to drive his car," Busch said. "So for me, rewarding him with that and having the success on the race track is paramount. Being able to continue on when I first joined, I feel like there were some things that we were doing within the rules at that time that got us some extra speed, and then, there was definitely some things that came down that they didn't like us doing.

"So that's sort of where we've lost a little bit if people are wondering, why have we not been able to win like we did in the first 16 races. It's just a matter of being able to continue to work with the people that are there. It's a great culture. I enjoy working there. I fit in well there. They enjoy having me there."

Busch won Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson is the only one who will participate in two-thirds of the action, including the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on Saturday night.

The marathon viewing for true gearheads starts on the French Riviera early Sunday -- Christmas morning-like -- while most of the U.S. is enjoying coffee or still shaking off the cobwebs and waking up.

The Monaco Grand Prix is a beautiful sight to behold, but as far as action goes, it pales in comparison to what lies ahead in the remainder of the day's oval-oriented antics.

Passing on the Monaco circuit is at best a premium and at worst non-existent. A heavy emphasis is placed on qualifying: Fourteen of the past 20 winners have started from the pole position, winding their way through the streets and roaring through the tunnel on their way to international glory.

Then it will be Larson's turn to step into the spotlight.

The Elk Grove, Calif., native has hogged plenty of it this season. His three wins at Kansas, Bristol and Miami have him sitting atop the Cup Series standings entering his hectic weekend.

Those trio of victories will likely make the 2021 Cup champ and Christopher Bell, who won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro last weekend, strong contenders to collect a larger trophy at Phoenix on Championship 4 weekend in mid-November.

For now, Larson is set to become the fifth driver to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He would join Tony Stewart, John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch as "Double Duty" drivers.

Last year, rain delayed the start of the Indy 500, and the No. 5 Chevrolet driver missed the Coke 600, which ended after 249 laps with Joe Gibbs Racing's Bell declared the winner because of rain.

Eight different winners have won the last eight 600s. Retired driver Martin Truex Jr. is the only repeat winner in the past 13 races.

After winning at North Wilkesboro, Bell was effusive in his praise of that short track, proclaiming in his frontstretch celebration that it should be added as a points race.

He was not alone.

"I'm good with it either way," said Team Penske racer Ryan Blaney. "I kind of like Brad (Keselowski's) comments about this (track) being a points race and moving the All-Star Race to the Charlotte oval and just kind of getting rid of the (Charlotte) Roval."

The connections between Indy and Charlotte go beyond just Larson, and the biggest news ahead of Sunday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is about the Penske organization's scandalous week.

On Wednesday, Roger Penske, a record 20-time Indy 500 winner as an owner, did some housecleaning with the firings of three top executives after a cheating scandal rocked the iconic speedway he owns.

Due to penalties because of competitive-advantage modifications to the Penske cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power, the organization fired IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer. The organization also fired team president Tim Cindric.

Yes, that Cindric family.

The elder Cindric, who held the highest executive position in the organization, is the father of 26-year-old Austin, a three-time Cup Series winner who found the checkers at Talladega last month in the No. 2 Ford.

The deal keeps Byron, 27, behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet through the 2029 NASCAR Cup Series season.

"We've built something special with the No. 24 team," Byron said in a team news release. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to continue working with amazing people at Hendrick Motorsports who believe in me, especially Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick. We've accomplished some great things that we're really proud of, but we have even bigger goals ahead. I'm excited to go after them with this team and this organization."

Byron, whose current contract expires at the end of this season, ranks second in the Cup Series standings through 13 races this season, 35 points behind Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson.

Byron initially signed with Hendrick in 2016 at age 18 and was the Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2018. His 14 wins at NASCAR's top level include back-to-back Daytona 500 victories in 2024 and 2025.

"William is the real deal," owner Rick Hendrick said. "What makes him so special is that he combines natural ability with an unrivaled work ethic.

"You see it in the great ones -- the drivers who could get by on talent alone but choose to outwork everyone anyway. That's William. On top of it all, he's a person of high character and embraces his role as a leader. We're proud to have him in our lineup and look forward to many more wins together."

Byron's new contract extends farther than his Hendrick teammates Larson (signed through 2026), Alex Bowman (2026) and Chase Elliott (2027).

Byron is doing double-duty this weekend in Charlotte, N.C., competing in Saturday's Xfinity Series race as well as Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.