Dell Sports – Nascar News

The Truck Series race, which completed 81 of 250 laps before nearby lightning halted the event, will resume at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. Ty Majeski won the 70-lap first stage and led at the suspension.

The heat races for the All-Star Race will not be run. The $1 million All-Star main event will be preceded by the NASCAR All-Star Open at 5:30 p.m. ET.

The top two finishers from the Open, along with the winner of the Fan Vote, will be added to the 17 drivers already eligible for the All-Star Race.

Logano ran the required three laps, including the pit stop, in 89.754 seconds (75.206 mph), beating fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski (74.884 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.386 seconds.

Logano is the only driver locked into a starting position for Sunday's All-Star Race. The rest of the field is scheduled to be set through Saturday's two heat races.

Logano's crew was fifth fastest on the pit stop. The winner of the Pit Crew Challenge -- and first choice of pit stalls for the All-Star Race -- was the over-the-wall gang on Christopher Bell's Toyota, posting a stop of 13.223 seconds, edging Keselowski's crew by 0.010 seconds.

The same crew won last year's Pit Crew Challenge with a different Joe Gibbs Racing driver -- Ty Gibbs.

"This qualifying session is the most fun session of the year," said Logano, the sixth of 17 drivers to attempt a run. "And it really takes the whole team, right? The car's got to go fast, we've got to execute onto pit road well, the spotter's got to do a good job helping me get through my lights (indicating pit road speed) and being on the same page with me there.

"I've got to be able to stop in the stall. The pit crew's got to do their part, and then back up onto the race track. So it really takes every crew member."

Bell had the third fastest overall time (90.169 seconds), followed by Daniel Suarez (90.199 seconds).

"What can you say? This is two in a row for these guys, and they've been awesome," Bell said. "I'm incredibly happy for them and honored to be their driver.

"I was able to stop on my marks. That's been a huge topic of conversation in our meetings, in making sure you get to the sign deep enough and get the tires locked up, so they can get on the lug while you're stopping.

"That's obviously a big part of it -- and taking off as soon as that jack drops. And that was a hell of a lot of fun."

--Supersized hat memorializes Petty family's 75 years in racing

On Friday afternoon, in front of the main entrance to North Wilkesboro, Richard Petty and son Kyle Petty unveiled an oversized Petty hat to commemorate the accomplishments of the Petty family at the 0.625-mile short track.

The hat is an apt symbol. For years, Richard Petty has worn trademark hats made for him by Charlie 1 Horse. The much larger version, made of fiberglass on a concrete base, features embossed photos of Petty's exploits and serves as a tribute to the Petty family's 75-year history in the sport.

"I'm going to get the big head," Petty quipped when the hat was unveiled.

Petty raced at North Wilkesboro 66 times, winning 15 of his record 200 NASCAR Cup Series races there. In 1959 and 1960, Petty's father, Lee Petty, won three straight events at the vaunted short track.

Kyle Petty raced at North Wilkesboro 32 times, with a best finish of second (twice).

"The new fans out there don't know where NASCAR started," Richard Petty said after the dedication. "This gives them a throwback deal when they see the hat. ... So it's good for us, the Petty family, and it's good for the fans. NASCAR hasn't always been mile-and-a-half racetracks. There used to be some dirt tracks and short tracks like this.

"We were here when it first started. We've been through all the changes with the cars, different kinds of tracks, different rules -- all that kind of stuff. We were here when it started. We were here when it was changing. We're here when it'll change again."

--Seat time invaluable to Harvick in new role

After Kevin Harvick retired from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, he never expected to get an opportunity to drive a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in preparation for the NASCAR All-Star Race.

But with Kyle Larson otherwise occupied with practice and qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, Harvick was asked to practice and qualify the No. 5 Camaro for Sunday's $1 million exhibition event at North Wilkesboro Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Harvick considers the seat time in the Gen 7 car essential to his new role as full-time analyst for FOX Sports. The 2014 NASCAR Cup champion took particular note of the option and prime tire choices available to teams for the All-Star Race.

"It's priceless," Harvick said of the opportunity. "This sport evolves quickly. To be able to understand the tires, the scenario that goes with how long these tires will last, how fast they go, what the feeling is and what all the scenarios are ... listening to someone else's team. ...

"I took my team (at Stewart-Haas Racing) for granted because we had been around for so long. To hear other people's thoughts and process and understand all those things to be able to relate to the fans, it's a pretty big deal to get a mid-year check of things that go with the evolution of our sport.

"It evolves quickly and can leave you behind quickly. To be still engrained in it and understand where everything's at is always good."

Late afternoon rain at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina postponed qualifying for Sunday's All-Star Race and set the field by points for the All-Star Open, the preliminary race before the 200-lap headline event.

Instead, the Pit Crew Challenge used to qualify the All-Star participants for Saturday's heat races will take place in the morning.

Denny Hamlin likes what the ensuing tire tests revealed following the 0.625-mile track's repaving in March.

"If it turns into a tire conservation race, I definitely like my chances," said Hamlin, who won the 2015 All-Star event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "It gives the teams options to run what they think is best for them.

"Any time we are all on the same tire, at times, it seems like we all run the same speed. I like the idea of the driver playing a bigger role in your result and they certainly will (Sunday)."

The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has one win in 17 starts in the All-Star Race, which was held at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2020 after a 33-year run in Charlotte. Then it ran for two seasons at Texas Motor Speedway.

Saturday's two heat races will be quick -- 60-lap shootouts with a halfway break that will determine the All-Star Race's inside and outside rows for Sunday night's $1 million top prize.

Preceding the 200-lapper (8 p.m. ET) will be The Open, a 100-lap event. The top two finishers will advance to the final race with a fan selection allowing the top vote-getter to occupy the final spot in the 20-car field.

On Friday in the first qualifying session, Austin Dillon paced The Open with a best lap of 18.29 seconds (122.96 mph), but a rain shower denied Alex Bowman and Ty Gibbs a chance to post times.

The rain never let up, and the field was then set by points, with Gibbs and Bowman sharing the front row based on those points.

"I wish they'd have both gotten (their laps) in there because I think our lap was pretty strong," said Dillon, who will instead start his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 15th. "I think we balanced our car around both of (the tires). ... The hard tire is a little freer. The soft tire felt (like) you got heat in it and it laid down a little bit."

There's some newness at the incredibly old venue in the hills of western North Carolina.

North Wilkesboro Speedway, which has been in existence since 1947, has received a facelift, primarily due to the efforts of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcus Smith beginning in late 2019.

An avid online racer following his retirement, Earnhardt, a 26-time Cup race winner, wanted to immortalize the decaying facility in a digital format, cleaning up the track physically then scanning it for future iRacers.

That lit the fire in Smith, the successor to his father Bruton Smith at Speedway Motorsports Inc., the company that owns the short track in the curvy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

An intense refurbishing of the speedway led to its first NASCAR event last May -- the All-Star Race -- on the old racing surface. Kyle Larson dominated the event, but two months ago, the track's asphalt received its first repave since 1981.

Among the 17 NASCAR Cup Series drivers already locked into the All-Star Race field and 20 others trying to ascend to the main event, Larson will be spending the least amount of time at the newly repaved 0.625-mile short track.

Former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, now a full-time analyst with Fox Sports, has agreed to practice and qualify Larson's car as Larson practices and qualifies his McLaren IndyCar for the Indianapolis 500, preparing for the "double" with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 26.

The schedule at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will preclude Larson from competing at North Wilkesboro until Sunday -- after Top 12, Last Chance and Fast Six qualifying concludes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

If the weather and transportation cooperate, Larson will line up against the 19 other drivers in the NASCAR All-Star Race with significant milestones on the line.

Larson is the defending winner of the race, an event he dominated in its first appearance at revitalized North Wilkesboro last year by leading 145 of 200 laps. With a victory, he would join the back-to-back winners club that currently has two members: Davey Allison (1991-92) and Jimmie Johnson (2012-13).

With three victories in the NASCAR All-Star Race, Larson is the only full-time active driver with more than one. Another win would tie Johnson for most all-time.

Larson is taking the details of the commute between Indy and North Wilkesboro, N.C., in stride.

"I'm not stressed out by logistics at all," he said on Wednesday during a video interview with reporters. "I feel like we've got a good plan. Yeah, I feel like kind of, 'Tell me where to be, tell me when to get in the car, tell me which car I'm getting in,' and we'll go."

The 17 drivers already eligible for the main event have qualified either by winning a race in 2023 or 2024, or by being a former All-Star winner racing full-time or a former NASCAR Cup champion racing full-time.

Two other spots go to the top two finishers in the NASCAR All-Star Open, which precedes the All-Star Race (Sunday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The final berth in the main event goes to the winner of the Fan Vote.

Qualifying on Friday afternoon will set the field for a pair of heat races on Saturday, which will determine the starting order for the All-Star Race. The top qualifier on Friday earns the pole position for Heat No. 1.

If Larson is a focal point for the race, so are the tires that Goodyear is providing for the event. Each team will receive two sets of faster "option" tires and more durable "prime" tires.

All drivers must start the All-Star Race on the option tires. There are planned cautions at approximately Lap 100 and Lap 150, which will give crew chiefs the possibility of using varying tire strategies.

All teams must execute four-tire pit stops during the Lap 100 "All-Star Caution."

--Truck Series race will feature a varied field

After a hiatus of 26 years, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series returned to North Wilkesboro Speedway for last year's points race, won by Larson.

Larson, however, won't be around to defend his victory in Saturday's Wright Brand 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

That doesn't mean there won't be interlopers. CARS Tour late model stock car star Brenden "Butterbean" Queen will make his series debut in the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota.

Aric Almirola will attempt to qualify for his first Truck Series race since 2012 in the No. 16 Hattori Enterprises Toyota.

Xfinity Series regular Sammy Smith will make his second start of the season in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

Dawson Sutton, 18, the Pro Late Model rookie of the year, will attempt to make the field for his series debut in the No. 26 Rackley W.A.R. Chevrolet.

Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Ross Chastain will pilot the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, hoping to improve on last year's ninth-place finish at North Wilkesboro.

The drivers enumerated above will be competing against Truck Series regulars, among them Ty Majeski, the 2023 runner-up, and Corey Heim, who led 75 laps in last year's race (second to Larson's 138) in finishing fifth.

Las Vegas winner Rajah Caruth will make his second start at North Wilkesboro, hoping to improve on last Friday's 30th-place result at Darlington.

"Honestly, it's really special to go to North Wilkesboro, because I know the history and I am a nerd about NASCAR as a whole," Caruth said. "It's been really cool to be part NASCAR's return to a track with such a deep history."

It will be the sixth consecutive year that Championship Week has been held in Phoenix, starting in 2020. NBC Sports will air the title race.

NASCAR also disclosed that Amazon's Prime Video will make its 2025 debut of racing coverage with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25.

Beginning in 2025, NBC Sports, Fox Sports, Prime Video and TNT Sports will provide the coverage of all 38 Cup Series races, with the media rights agreement expiring after the 2031 season.

Earlier this week, NASCAR announced an in-season, single-elimination bracket tournament, with drivers over the course of five races competing for a $1 million first-place prize.

The tournament will begin June 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The three seeding races will be broadcast on Amazon Prime, while Turner Sports will televise the five races that comprise the tournament, all leading up to one driver taking home a big paycheck.

NASCAR fans immediately thought back to the days of Winston's "No-Bull 5," a program that followed the "Winston Million" campaign of the 1980's. The No-Bull 5 ran from 1998 to 2002, pitting five drivers against one another in NASCAR's five crown jewel races: The Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, the Brickyard 400, the Southern 500 and the Winston 500 at Talladega. A driver who was eligible for the prize that won one of the listed races would win a $1 million bonus, as well as $1 for the lucky fan who was paired with the driver.

The No-Bull 5 might be the closest thing NASCAR has seen to the NBA's In-Season tournament so far, which debuted during the 2023-24 season and saw considerable gains in the NBA's TV ratings. NASCAR is hoping their in-season tournament will give the sport a much needed boost during a normally mundane summer stretch.

NASCAR's new tournament will be straightforward -- a good thing considering the complexity of the sport's playoff system. Simply put, the driver who finishes ahead of the driver they're paired with moves on, knocking their competitor out. While the tournament will make every spot on the racetrack that much more valuable, fans are wondering if the race for a $1 million bonus could impact the championship battle.

Sixteen playoff spots are made available in the NASCAR Cup Series each season, with a race win equaling a guaranteed spot in the postseason. Wins matter more in modern-day NASCAR than they ever have. With the ability to lock a driver into the playoffs, advance him from round to round and even win him the championship, winning races by whatever means necessary has been incentivized as much as possible by NASCAR.

It's what makes moves like Chris Buescher's three-wide pass at Darlington or Tyler Reddick's failed slide job later in the same race that much more meaningful -- second is still a good points day, but it doesn't have a major impact in the grand scheme of things.

Even in a sports world where the value of $1 million seems to be decreasing by the hour, the only other NASCAR events that pay close to it are the All-Star Race, which pays an even $1 million to the winner, as well as the Daytona 500 and the Cup Series championship.

Putting an extra $1 million on the line during a stretch of the season where most title contenders have already locked up a playoff spot will only make the top drivers in the sport that much more hungry for victory lane.

However, for the "bubble" drivers -- those that are hovering around the 14-20th range in points, hoping to point their way into the playoffs -- no such comfort exists.

Being locked into the postseason provides an inherent advantage in modern-day NASCAR of being able to go for broke until the playoffs start. If you win the Daytona 500, you have the ability to use the next 25 weeks as a regular-season test session, experimenting with pit strategy and setups can help the top contenders better prepare for the championship push over the final 10 races of the season.

While the bubble drivers certainly want to park their cars in victory lane on Sunday afternoon, they may not have the speed under the hood to do so. While these drivers need every point they can get to try and make the postseason field, the in-season tournament could force crew chiefs and drivers to make a difficult choice -- do you play it safe for a good points day that will contribute to your effort to make the playoffs, or do you take a gamble in an effort to advance through the in-season tournament?

As the tournament progresses, that decision could prove easier, as taking a chance for a $1 million payday sounds better than taking a risk just to advance through the first round. But it will certainly be interesting to see what strategies are employed when next summer comes around, and if any teams can find a way to both race for points and a payday.

The third tier of drivers -- those from 20th on back in the standings that need a win to make the playoffs regardless once summer rolls around -- will have even more reason to make bold moves, try a unique pit strategy, or stay out with rain approaching than ever before.

Think about a small team, such as Rick Ware Racing or Spire Motorsports, and how far $1 million could go toward improvements. To Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing, $1 million is a drop in the bucket. But for a team still looking to prove they belong in the Cup Series, $1 million could be the funds they need to take the next step.

Of course, it's unlikely that one of those cars could get to the finals of the tournament without a wild turn of events, but modern-day NASCAR certainly isn't shy about letting chaos unfold on a weekly basis.

We don't yet know what races the 2025 schedule -- and hence, the tournament itself -- will entail, but regardless of the tracks NASCAR decides to visit over the course of the tournament, expect drivers to be driving harder than ever to try and grab that $1 million check.

NASCAR announced the tournament on Monday. It will slot 32 drivers in a single-elimination bracket format, and over the course of five races, drivers will advance in the bracket based on their head-to-head finish against their rival driver.

Results of the three races preceding the tournament will determine the drivers who qualify and how they're seeded. Those three races will air on Amazon Prime Video, while TNT will have all five races in the tournament itself.

The races and tracks to be utilized for the tournament were not yet announced.

"With the launch of our new media rights partnerships in 2025, we were excited to partner with Prime Video and TNT Sports to collaborate on fan engagement concepts that drive story lines in our sport and innovation from a production perspective," NASCAR senior vice president of media and productions Brian Herbst said in a press release.

"Having head-to-head driver matchups for each one of TNT's NASCAR Cup Series races will add a compelling fan engagement element across media platforms like TNT, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and NASCAR digital platforms."

In a 33-lap dash after Kyle Larson's wreck, Tyler Reddick ran down leader Chris Buescher on the backstretch, but the two cars made contact in Turn 3 with 10 laps left, knocking both cars out of the season's 13th race as it stayed green.

Third-place Keselowski assumed the point and went on to break his 110-race winless streak, which dated back to Talladega in 2021, by beating Ty Gibbs by 1.214 seconds in the six-caution race.

The RFK Racing driver's win gave Ford its first victory of 2024 as three blue ovals finished in the top five, rounded out by Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

Two-time Darlington winner Erik Jones, who suffered a lower vertebra fracture in a violent wreck at Talladega, started 30th and finished 19th in his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota after missing two races.

On Throwback Weekend at the famed 1.366-mile speedway, drivers sported paint schemes on their cars commemorating ones from decades ago.

Top qualifier Reddick, driving his No. 45 Toyota decked out in a Tim Richmond paint scheme that he drove for two races in 1982, led from the outset and steadily pulled away from fellow front-row starter Keselowski.

Following a series of varied pit-stop strategies, Larson, last week's winner at Kansas, easily beat Gibbs by two seconds for the 90-lap Stage 1 win with Keselowski well behind in third.

The 293-lap race's first major incident occurred on a restart on Lap 129 when William Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney raced three-wide between Turns 1 and 2.

On the low side, Byron's Chevrolet crowded the Toyota of middle-man Truex, who made contact and forced Blaney's Ford into the wall. Buescher got into the back of Truex, who hit Blaney's No. 12 again as the third caution waved.

In the race's tightest early racing, Reddick and Keselowski made contact with 16 laps to go in the second segment before the polesitter squeezed by Keselowski and claimed his second win this season and first ever at Darlington.

Reddick won the pole position for Sunday's Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Turning a lap at Darlington Raceway in 28.906 seconds (170.124 mph) in the final round of qualifying, Reddick edged Brad Keselowski (170.018 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.018 seconds.

The Busch Light Pole Award was Reddick's first of the season, his first at the "Track Too Tough to Tame" and the seventh of his career. Richmond won Darlington poles in 1983 and 1986.

"Just really excited that this Tim Richmond throwback Camry is going to be starting on the pole," said Reddick, who added to the tribute with his own Richmond-style mustache.

"It's really nice to put the work in this week to have that kind of qualifying effort. Last week was tough (20th-place finish at Kansas). We didn't lack any effort in trying to find ways to have a good week this week."

Chris Buescher qualified third at 169.543 mph, giving Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing two of the top three grid positions for Sunday's race, the 13th of the season. Buescher finished second to Kyle Larson by 0.001 seconds last Sunday at Kansas Speedway in the closest finish in Cup Series history.

Ty Gibbs (169.491 mph) will start fourth, followed by William Byron, Larson, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. Chastain edged Kyle Busch for the final Group B spot in the second round after both drivers ran identical times to the thousandth of a second in the opening round.

Chastain got the nod on an owner points tiebreaker.

Returning to competition after a two-race injury absence, Erik Jones will start 30th in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota. Jones suffered a compression fracture of a lower vertebra during a multicar wreck at Talladega in April.

Reddick's paint scheme is his second honoring Richmond.

"He was the type of driver, in my opinion -- when he was at the track or away from the track -- he was always living life to the fullest and really happy living the life he (led)," Reddick said.

"Obviously, what he could do inside of a race car, too, is something that I always extremely appreciated about him."

There's one more way Reddick can emulate Richmond -- do what Richmond did in 1986 and win at Darlington from the pole.

Erik Jones returns with seat adjustment

Discretion was the better part of valor for Erik Jones, who sat out last Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway despite having been cleared to compete.

Jones suffered a compression fracture of a lower vertebra in a violent collision with the outside wall during a multicar accident April 21 at Talladega and missed the last two races, at Dover and Kansas.

He returns this weekend at Darlington, where he has claimed two of his three career victories, both in the Southern 500.

"There was probably a possibility coming back right away with the injury, but Dover was not a place where that was going to happen," Jones said before qualifying on Saturday at Darlington. "Even Kansas was a place that was going to be challenging with high speed and a lot of risk of being an incident-not of your own doing necessarily.

"Coming to Darlington, I feel like you can control your own destiny a bit. There is less risk for an accident like that. Also, three weeks in, I feel like we are on the safe side of 100 percent, and I feel 100 percent."

After a significant accident, there's always evaluation, and Jones' Legacy Motor Club team has made changes to increase Jones' comfort in the No. 43 Toyota.

"We've changed the seat a lot," Jones explained. "This will be the first race on that seat. I'm sitting in a pretty different position than I'm used to for almost all of my racing career. Guys that have (gone) through this similar injury have gone through the same transition to their seating position as well.

"Fortunately -- it's not a short race, it's 400 miles -- but it feels short here, I feel like. It will be a good test here, and next week at (North) Wilkesboro (in the NASCAR All-Star Race). How does the seat feel, what can I change before the (Coca-Cola) 600?

"I would say it is two good weeks of that, seeing how I feel, seeing what is bothering me, especially after Darlington tomorrow, and saying this what hurts, this is what we are going to change, and this is how we are going to move forward."

Todd Gilliland open to leadership role at Front Row

When Front Row Motorsports mainstay Michael McDowell announced earlier this week that he was leaving the organization after seven seasons, it took teammate Todd Gilliland by surprise.

"Part of me is surprised he's leaving, just because - same as you guys see - he's been there a long time, and he's really built the organization up into what it is today, in my opinion," Gilliland said on Saturday at Darlington Raceway. "He's been a huge part of that.

"Yes, I am surprised he's leaving, but at the same time, he's been doing so well you have to think there's going to be opportunities. So, yes, I'm definitely sad to see him go just based on how much his does, his leadership within the team."

McDowell's exit to Spire Motorsports potentially thrusts Gilliland into a leadership role at Front Row, where his father, David Gilliland, drove for six full seasons.

"I did some interview where I said hopefully I can take the torch where I can do the leadership deal, and I joked at the moment (to McDowell), ‘I didn't want it to be this soon-you didn't need to leave this early.'"

Before he can assume a leadership position at Front Row, however, Gilliland has to have a deal in place for next season. Team owner Bob Jenkins operates on a year-to-year basis, and one of the reasons the 2021 Daytona 500 winner chose was the offer of a longer-term deal with Spire.

Kyle Busch seeking stability in Next Gen Cup Car

The transition to NASCAR's Next Gen race car hasn't been kind to Kyle Busch.

In 2022, the year of the Next Gen's introduction into the NASCAR Cup Series, Busch stole a win on Bristol dirt when Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick collided in front of him. That was his only victory in his final season with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Busch won three times in 2023 after a move to Richard Childress Racing, but he feels that other teams have made progress with the setups of the car that RCR hasn't matched.

"Last year, we were good out of the gate," Busch said. "We had some good stuff, and then as times have changed, the setups have evolved, and guys have found how to make their stuff go faster. We just haven't been able to do that."

Busch has 63 victories to his credit, most among active Cup Series drivers, but he hasn't achieved the level of comfort with the new car that Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have, for example.

"It definitely drives different than the old car," Busch said. "What that is, I'm not exactly sure. ... When you lean into the corner and the right-front is outside the right-rear, the car is much tighter. When you get to the center off of the corner and the right-front is inside the right-rear coming downhill, it's much looser.

"And so, trying to find that balance of that has been difficult, trying to get that right. But the old car didn't have that sensation. It was easy to just make a smooth corner and have the balance stay the same the whole time, where now I feel like I'm fighting many more balance issues."

The last two weeks have showed promise, however. Busch won the pole and finished fourth at Dover. At Kansas last Sunday, he ran consistently in the top five and rallied from a late spin to finish eighth.

It will be the fourth time 23XI has entered a third car. Travis Pastrana finished 11th at the 2023 Daytona 500, while Kamui Kobayashi had a pair of finishes in the back of the pack, including a 29th-place result in March at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The 21-year-old Heim has been making a name for himself in the NASCAR Truck Series, where he has seven career wins.

Heim made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Dover Motor Speedway on April 28 as a fill-in driver for Legacy Motor Club and finished 25th. He also raced at Kansas on Sunday and finished 22nd after a spin-out on the last lap.

When he takes part in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 30, Heim will be behind the wheel of the No. 50 car with Mobil 1 as primary sponsor.

23XI's full time drivers are Bubba Wallace in the No. 23 car and Tyler Reddick in the No. 45. Reddick is currently fifth in the overall standings with a win at Talladega on April 21 and has four top-10 finishes. Wallace is currently 16th overall standings with three top-10s.

"I wish we had more mile-and-a-half (tracks)," Larson said after nipping Chris Buescher in the sport's closest finish ever. "You know, we all (complain) about the package and all that, but these mile-and-a-halfs ... these cars just race so amazing (on them)."

There's a friendly tip for you via Larson: The 1 1/2-mile tracks of Atlanta, Kansas, Charlotte, Texas and Las Vegas are where it's at if you want to bring friends to their first race and hook them on NASCAR.

Now, welcome to Darlington Raceway, the site of Sunday's Goodyear 400 on Throwback Weekend at the legendary South Carolina track.

Granted, Darlington is not quite 1 1/2 miles long and doesn't possess the D-shaped layout of a place like Kansas or Atlanta this season, which hosted two nail-biting finishes with cars clanging off each other off the final turn.

Instead, Darlington measures 1.366 miles and is egg-shaped, the result of not having as much property to work with on the track's west end as was needed to create a true oval back in 1949 when ground was broken.

Since its first race in 1950, Darlington has dished out 73 years of challenging driving at the one speedway that might be the most demanding of them all.

It's a true driver's track known as "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame."

Darlington also has been known to provide a spectacular finish or two like its slightly lengthier neighbors.

There have been many remarkable races at difficult Darlington, but none stands out more than the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 in 2003.

In that one, 31st-place starter Ricky Craven ran down leader Kurt Busch in the final 10 laps then traded the lead with the Roush Racing driver as the ill-handling cars slipped around on high-banked asphalt.

Exiting Turn 4, Craven's No. 32 banged with Busch's No. 97 Ford in a door-to-door drag race. The Tide-sponsored Pontiac then delivered Craven his second career win in an instant classic by a scant 0.002 seconds.

"Have you ever?" blurted FOX Sports announcer Mike Joy as the clashing cars billowed smoke past the finish line.

"No, I've never," shot back boothmate Darrell Waltrip after Craven notched the fifth last-lap pass for victory at Darlington.

This year, William Byron is the defending race of an event held one year ago this weekend, which has not always been the case.

When the track had two scheduled events, the first race was held in the Spring while the Southern 500 was on Labor Day weekend. That occurred until 2004, then the venerable speedway lost a race and ran just one for 15 straight seasons.

In 2020, Darlington hosted three races, including the first race after NASCAR's two-month hiatus for COVID.

Currently, the slate is the same as it has been since 1960, minus that one-race schedule for 15 years and the oddity of 2020, and the start-finish line was moved to the speedway's opposite side in 1997.

But as for the track itself at Darlington?

It's still as tough to tame as it was in 1950.

McDowell and Front Row Motorsports had announced that they would not be teaming up after this season just hours before news came in that McDowell would be joining Spire. He has been with Front Row for seven years.

"This is a new chapter for my family and me, and we're incredibly thankful for the opportunity that's in front of us," McDowell said. "It's going to take some hard work, but I feel like everything is in place for us to be successful as a race team -- to win races and contend for championships.

"People are the greatest asset to any organization, and with Spire's vision, ambition, knowledge, and dedication, we will achieve great things. Failure is not an option, and that's the mindset that it will take to achieve our goals."

In 477 NASCAR Cup Series starts, the 39-year-old McDowell has posted a pair of wins -- at the 2021 Daytona 500 and the 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis. He has also participated in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (94 races) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (two).

Spire Motorsports has one Cup Series win, prevailing in 2019.

"Michael McDowell is a proven winner and brings a NASCAR playoff pedigree," Spire Motorsports president Doug Duchardt said. "Michael has always been committed to elevate his teams. His experience and enthusiasm are a perfect fit for Spire Motorsports, and we are sure he will be a great teammate to both Corey LaJoie and Carson Hocevar.

"We're thrilled to keep up the positive momentum by adding someone as accomplished as Michael to our driver lineup."

While there are many eye-catching schemes this year, five stand out among the rest. Here are the best NASCAR throwback schemes of 2024.

5. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Wood Brothers Racing (Cup Series). Throwback: Leonard Wood's 1953 "Leonard Wood Special"

While Burton's performance on the racetrack has been less than stellar this season, he and the Wood Brothers delivered with a throwback scheme that winds back the clock 71 years. As one of the oldest and most historic teams in the garage area, the Wood Brothers always have an abundance of old schemes to choose from, and they nailed it this season. While Burton likely won't contend for the win on Sunday at Darlington, he did finish sixth there in the spring race last year, so he'll have more expectations placed on his shoulders than usual.

4. Jack Wood, No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Truck Series). Throwback: Tim Flock's 1952 "Hudson Hornet"

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tim Flock drove his 1952 Hudson to the NASCAR Strictly Stock (now NASCAR Cup Series) championship in 1952. In a car owned by Ted Chester, Flock quickly carved out a name for himself, and both he and his famous racecar are forever immortalized in racing history. Wood didn't run the Truck Series race at Darlington in 2023 but did so in 2022, finishing 18th for the now defunct GMS Racing. While Flock never won at Darlington in the Cup Series, he did finish top five twice and top 10 four times in his nine Darlington starts. Regardless of where Wood runs on Friday night, though, the No. 91 truck will look fantastic as it pays homage to one of the greatest pioneers of stock-car racing.

3. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro, Hendrick Motorsports (Cup Series). Throwback: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2014 Daytona 500-winning car

One of the more recent throwbacks of the weekend, NASCAR's current most popular driver will pay tribute to its former most popular driver at Darlington. Earnhardt Jr. won the 2014 Daytona 500 in a beautiful red, white and gold car that was sponsored by the National Guard. While it will be UniFirst on the hood of Elliott's car this weekend, his No. 9 car nearly perfectly resembles the car that Earnhardt drove to victory in the 2014 Great American Race. Elliott finished third at Darlington last May, so expect him to have a chance at putting an iconic scheme back in victory lane for the first time in a decade.

2. Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro, Alpha Prime Racing (Xfinity Series). Throwback: Cole Trickle's City Chevrolet scheme from "Days of Thunder"

The only thing keeping this scheme from the No. 1 slot is the fact that it's not an actual piece of racing history, but a scheme that has been perfectly recreated from an iconic NASCAR film will still score high with fans. Ellis' sponsor, Classic Collision, has even willingly played along, forming their logo to fit inside the classic Chevy bowtie that will adorn the hood of Ellis' car in Saturday's Xfinity Series race. The only thing that could make this scheme any better is if the No. 43 team somehow got Tom Cruise, who played Trickle in the 1990 film, to the racetrack. Ellis will be looking to "drop the hammer" on Saturday as he searches for his first Xfinity Series win.

1. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro, Hendrick Motorsports (Cup Series). Throwback: Terry Labonte's 1990s Kellogg's scheme

Two-time Cup Series champion "Texas Terry" Labonte will hand over the reins of his iconic scheme to 2021 champion Kyle Larson, who beat Chris Buescher to the line in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history on Sunday at Kansas. Labonte drove the red and green car from 1994 to 1999, winning the 1996 NASCAR Cup Series championship with Kellogg's proudly displayed on the hood. Aside from the obvious difference in sponsor logos, the cars of Larson and Labonte look nearly identical, and Larson has a good shot of putting the 2024 version in victory lane on Sunday. He won the Southern 500 at Darlington last September, so expect him to be in the mix for another win at The Lady in Black.

Larson beat Buescher by 0.001 seconds -- officially the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Denny Hamlin led with seven laps to go when fifth-place Kyle Busch spun for the race's seventh caution, five of them coming for incidents in Stage 3.

After the top eight cars took two tires in the pits, Larson passed Hamlin in the two-lap shootout, went high on Buescher's No. 17 and edged Buescher for his second win this season and 25th of his career.

It was Chevrolet's seventh win and kept Ford winless in 2024.

Finishing the top five were Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Hamlin.

After a three-hour rain delay, Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota led a front row with Ross Chastain, whose No. 1 Chevrolet took the lead early from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

Hamlin, last week's winner, asserted himself with about 15 laps to go, swiped the lead from Larson and took the point. It was his 16th consecutive race leading at least one lap.

The JGR driver went on to beat Chastain and Larson to score Stage 1's full bonus points on Lap 80, his third segment win of 2024.

In nearly full sunshine and on a warmer track after the earlier rain, Larson's Hendrick Motorsports car came alive and pulled away from the field in the second stage before green-flag pit stops began on Lap 118.

Despite a slow pit stop with a problem on the left front tire change, Larson rebounded to chase down Buescher in the closing laps, but the No. 17 RFK Racing driver held on for his first stage win while Larson's No. 5 and Hamlin's No. 11 followed.

However, Buescher had two problems on his pit stop -- two of his crew members were over the wall too soon and his tear-off stuck on his Ford's roof -- sending him to the back of the field.

The 267-lap race's first accident occurred in Turn 1 when Jimmie Johnson, Corey LaJoie and Austin Hill tangled on Lap 176.

The fourth caution flew shortly after the next restart when Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell wrecked on the backstretch.

Harrison Burton and Joey Logano were involved in single-car incidents for the next two yellows.

But at this point, he'd probably give his eye teeth just to finish a race on Sunday.

Navigating Kansas Speedway in an impressive 29.491 seconds (183.107 mph) in the final round of NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday afternoon, Bell won the pole position for Sunday's AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

He'll share the front row with Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain (182.704 mph), whose lap was 0.065 seconds off Bell's blistering pace.

The pole is Bell's first of the season, his third at the 1.5-mile track and the 11th of his career, all coming since NASCAR introduced the Next Gen race car into the Cup Series in 2022.

Even as he accepted congratulations for his effort, however, Bell already was looking ahead to Sunday's race, the series' 12th of the season.

"I love the high-speed places, the places where you're on the verge of being wide open or not being wide open, and the intermediates have been really good for us," said Bell, who has more poles in the Next Gen era than any other driver.

Since winning the third race of the season at Phoenix in March, however, Bell and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team have suffered a litany of misfortunes. In his last four starts, Bell has posted a best finish of 17th at Texas and three results of 34th or worse.

"Honestly, at this point, I'm not looking for a race win, guys," said Bell, who described his 34th-place run last Sunday at Dover as "the bottom of the barrel."

"I'm just looking to see the checkered flag. I know my car has great capability, and if I just see the checkered flag with a clean car, we're going to have a good, solid day, and that's definitely what we're after tomorrow."

Ford driver Noah Gragson (182.451 mph) qualified third, sustaining the momentum from a pair of top-10 performances at Talladega and Dover. Kyle Larson was fourth fastest at 182.383 mph, followed by Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric.

Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe will start from positions eight through 10, respectively.

--Johnson lauds injured Jones for postponing return

Though Legacy Motor Club announced that Erik Jones has been cleared to return to racing by doctors and NASCAR, the team convinced Jones it would be in his best interest to sit out Sunday's AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Jones suffered a compression fracture in a lower vertebra when his No. 43 Toyota rocketed into the Turn 3 wall during a four-car accident on Lap 155 at Talladega on April 21. He missed last Sunday's race at Dover, where NASCAR Truck Series driver Corey Heim finished 25th in relief.

Heim will continue in that role on Sunday. The plan is for Jones to return May 12 at Darlington, where he has scored two of his three NASCAR Cup Series victories.

Team co-owner Jimmie Johnson helped convince Jones that a cautious approach was best, given the high-speed nature of 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway.

"Yeah, I don't envy his position, but I really do appreciate his willingness to hear us out," said Johnson, who will compete on Sunday in his second straight Cup event in the No. 84 Legacy Camry. "It's not a fun process, and as far as he's concerned, he should have never missed a race. He's just eager to do it. I've played hurt before, so I get it and have seen both sides of it.

"My concern is that we're at a fast track and an impact like that could happen again, and is his body really ready for that? And that's kind of the question he came to his own answer on and realized that it's probably early.

"There's a lot of other bits and pieces to that, but ultimately, he feels great and is moving around really well. He was able to get in the gym and exercise, but to really take a shot like you can at this place, it's just early."

--Toyota drivers look to continue Next-Gen era dominance at Kansas

Ask Tyler Reddick to account for the recent success of 23XI Racing at Kansas Speedway, and he'll give you a succinct answer.

"I think it's our boss," Reddick said, referring to team co-owner Denny Hamlin. "He's just really great. I think that's just a big part of it. Denny's just great, so we're great, too."

To Reddick's point, Hamlin is the defending winner of Sunday's AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Reddick is the most recent winner at the 1.5-mile intermediate track, having triumphed in the playoff race last fall.

In 2022, the first year of Next Gen race car in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace carried the 23XI banner into Victory Lane as the organization swept both Kansas races.

Hamlin comes to Kansas as the series' most recent winner, having taken the checkered flag last Sunday at Dover to tie William Byron in Cup victories this season with three. Hamlin also boasts a record four wins at Kansas.

Hamlin predicted a victory for his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team at Dover and delivered. But on Saturday at Kansas, he wasn't ready to call his shot for a second straight week.

"I thought (crew chief) Chris (Gabehart) gave me the task of winning one of the next three races before we had the All-Star break, and we got the first week," Hamlin said. "Now, from here on out, I think we can be in a good mood once we get to the All-Star break.

"Certainly, these next two tracks (Kansas and Darlington) are set up really nicely for us. So, I'm certainly encouraged by it. You don't want to use up all of your promises too early on in the season, so I'll try to save a few."

--Visit to Arlington National Cemetery had significant impact on Blaney

At the invitation of Charlotte Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith, NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney visited Arlington National Cemetery and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony on Wednesday as part of the NASCAR Salutes initiative.

The experience clearly had a significant impact on the 30-year-old Team Penske driver.

"That was a really, really neat experience to go do," Blaney said Saturday at Kansas Speedway. "I was really happy that Charlotte and Marcus invited me out there. It was my first time to Arlington.

"It puts things into perspective, that's for sure -- very quickly. You just see the vast size of that place, and you understand how many men and women have laid their lives down for us to do what we do.

"So it was neat. The wreath-laying ceremony was amazing. Watching the changing of the guard was really special. So I was happy they were able to line that up. I met a lot of great people out there who gave me a lot of the history of it -- definitely a very humbling experience."

As teams prepare for the season's 12th race, a 267-lapper in Kansas City, Kan., drivers voiced concerns about the current Next Gen car, specifically how it has become a defensive asset instead of an offensive weapon.

Following last Saturday's qualifying session and pole-winning lap at Dover, two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch said the car has better value essentially as a blocking tool than for pulling out and roaring by the car in front of him.

That manifested Sunday as Busch fought to get by former teammate Martin Truex Jr. but did not have the force in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to move up a position.

"The aero blocking is just so bad," Busch said after running fourth. "It's so bad and everybody knows it and uses it as a defense item."

Basically, getting the lead, moving around and making the car wider to prevent a second-place driver from being triumphant, is now the path to success on the speedway ovals.

In the 1987 version of The Winston at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt, who would have turned 73 this week, famously frustrated Bill Elliott in the 10-lap dash for a $200,000 payout.

Despite his No. 9 Ford Thunderbird being faster, an angry Elliott could not pass Earnhardt's blue and yellow No. 3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in a race that featured the Intimidator's legendary "Pass in the Grass" en route to victory.

However, blocking has become more sophisticated with technology.

When Earnhardt shut down Elliott, it was drivers and rear-view mirrors -- and eventually spotters in the late 1980s -- getting them to Victory Lane.

Nowadays, drivers have a rear-view camera mounted to the top of their back window that allows the leader to look at his dashboard and track the car behind him, making aero blocking in the closing laps just a simple act of following wherever the trailing car moves and snuffing an opposing run.

Kyle Larson was running down Dover winner Denny Hamlin over the last 50 laps but could only get as close as 0.20 seconds from the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's No. 11 Toyota.

"It's just so easy as the leader ... (to air block)," said Larson after Hamlin's series-tying third win. "You just shut off the air to the guys behind you. I knew that when I got to within three car-lengths he'd start moving around."

In fairness, Larson admitted that his only victory, at Las Vegas in March, was achieved by the same move of blocking the progress of Tyler Reddick in the final circuits -- now an oval track trend.

Larson, the 2021 champion, also suggested maybe doing away with the rear cameras would improve the racing.

While the series is constantly looking ahead to the schedule's next race, rest assured these drivers will continue to be looking back at what's closing in on them as the laps wind down.

Details were not provided as Stenhouse, 36, will continue behind the wheel of the No. 47 Chevrolet.

"When I joined this team in 2020, I knew both the team and I were capable of putting the No. 47 in Victory Lane," Stenhouse said in a statement. "Although I wish it came sooner, winning the Daytona 500 last year proved that we can win together.

"We have a fantastic group of guys at the shop, great management, solid partners and an ever-improving program," he continued. "I'm very excited to continue my relationship with the team. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised to see what we have in store for the future."

Stenhouse, driving in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2011, has three career wins. He is in 27th place, 245 points behind leader Kyle Larson, in the current standings. Stenhouse has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season, including fourth place on April 21 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

"I am looking forward to continuing with Ricky as our driver of the No. 47," team owner Gordon Smith said in the statement. "He has been an asset to our team on and off the racetrack since joining us in 2020.

"Winning the Daytona 500 was a huge accomplishment for our small team, and I know we have more trips to Victory Lane in our future with Ricky at the wheel."

His Legacy Motor Club team made the announcement Thursday, with Corey Heim to replace Jones in the No. 43 Toyota for the AdventHealth 400 on Sunday. Heim, 21, made his Cup debut last week at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, qualified 32nd and placed 25th in an incident-free race.

Jones sustained a compression fracture in his lower vertebra on April 21 in a crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Late in the race, John Hunter Nemechek's car appeared to contact the back of Bubba Wallace's car, which then clipped Jones' car and sent it into the outside wall.

Jones, 27, made the trip to Dover last weekend to support Heim and the racing group and plans to do the same in Kansas City, Kan.

"As far as coming back, I think it is week-to-week," Jones said at Dover. "My injury fortunately, is on the mild side, so we'll just have to see how it's healing up, how I'm feeling. Again, I'm feeling better and better every day."

Jones has one top-10 finish in 11 starts and is in 23rd place, 229 points behind leader Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Here are the five best young prospects in the sport to keep an eye on across the series:

5. Carson Kvapil, No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro, JR Motorsports (Xfinity Series): The son of 2003 Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, the younger Kvapil has an average finish of third through his first two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts in 2024. After a fourth-place run at Martinsville, Kvapil was barely edged out by Ryan Truex for the win at Dover, finishing runner-up in just his second NASCAR start. Recruited by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Kvapil has proven himself on the short tracks thus far and a full-time Xfinity Series ride could be on the horizon in 2025.

4. Connor Zilisch, No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado, Spire Motorsports (Truck Series): Zilisch's experience in NASCAR-sanctioned races is minimal, but his results thus far show that the 17 year-old may be one of the sport's future stars. The winner of the ARCA Menards Series race at Dover last weekend, Zilisch also won the pole for his first Truck Series start at COTA, where he finished fourth despite an early setback. Without a lap one mistake, Zilisch may have found himself in victory lane. The speed and talent is there, and with a development deal already signed with Trackhouse Racing, Zilisch has a bright future ahead of him. He'll run five more Truck Series races in 2024, giving the NASCAR world five more opportunities to see what he brings to the table.

3. Christian Eckes, No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing (Truck Series): After winning four races in the Truck Series in 2023, Eckes already has two wins so far in 2024, including a race at Bristol where he straight up outdrove Kyle Busch for the trophy. At the ripe old age of 23, Eckes is on the older side of current prospects, but he consistently puts himself in a position to win. His upside might not be strong enough for a Cup team to take a risk on him in the next three or four seasons, but if he keeps winning he'll get a phone call from a Cup team soon enough.

2. Chandler Smith, No. 81 Toyota Supra (Xfinity Series): While Smith did win his first career Xfinity Series race in 2023, he struggled mightily with consistency, notching only 13 top-10's in 33 races. Through the first 10 races of the 2024 season, Smith has two wins, six top-fives and eight top-10's, along with an incredible average finish of 7.0. He has also finished all 10 races so far, an invaluable trait in modern-day NASCAR. At 21 years old, Smith is primed to be the next great Toyota driver, and with the possible retirement of Martin Truex Jr. looming he could be next in line to drive the famed No. 19 car.

1. Corey Heim, No. 11 Toyota Tundra, Tricon Garage (Truck Series): Speaking of consistency, Heim had 19 top-10's in 22 Truck Series races a year ago, and through seven races in 2024 he has finished top-10 in every single one. An increase in wins might be nice, but he'll find victory lane consistently if he keeps running inside the top-five. His average finish through the first seven events is 3.9, a number that before only seemed possible in a NASCAR video game. The Truck Series seems more like a formality for Heim, as a solid showing in his Cup Series debut at Dover in place of injured Erik Jones proves that he has the chops to be a top-level driver in the premier stock-car racing series in the world.

Hamlin is the defending winner of the AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In addition, Hamlin's minions -- namely drivers for the 23XI Racing team he co-owns with former NBA superstar Michael Jordan -- have won three of the last four races at the 1.5-mile intermediate track, encompassing the two-year Next Gen era.

Kurt Busch won the spring race at Kansas in 2022 before an accident at Pocono sidelined him. Bubba Wallace followed with a victory in the fall race that season. And after Hamlin triumphed last year, Tyler Reddick secured the third Kansas win for 23XI in the September Playoff race.

All told, Toyota drivers have won seven of the last nine races at the Wyandotte County track, with Hamlin accounting for three of those victories and former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch accounting for another.

"Kansas is where we show up with confidence," Wallace acknowledged. "If everything goes right, we've got a really good shot at being in Victory Lane.

"Something clicks when we show up there. The speed's there, the confidence is there, the crew is on it, and everything lines up there."

After boldly predicting victory at Dover on his Monday podcast, Hamlin held off a charging Kyle Larson to win at the Monster Mile. Though he's not ready to call his shot at Kansas -- despite his recent success there -- Hamlin feels his No. 11 JGR team can win anywhere.

"Yeah, I mean, I expect to win every week," said Hamlin, who is tied with Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron for most victories in the series this season with three. "There's no reason I shouldn't expect to win (at Kansas) ... it's been on the radar for a while.

"This little stretch right here right before the All-Star break, between Dover, Kansas, Darlington, I mean, these are all kind of right in my wheelhouse. Certainly feel pretty good about it."

Larson is the only Chevrolet driver to take the checkered flag in the last nine races at Kansas, a feat he accomplished from the pole position during his championship season in 2021 -- the last before the transition to the Next Gen car in the Cup Series.

Ford drivers haven't found Victory Lane at Kansas since Joey Logano triumphed in the fall of 2020, and the Blue Oval contingent is winless through 11 races this season.

With Jeff Gordon having won the first two races at Kansas Speedway in 2001 and 2002, Hendrick Motorsports has eight victories in 36 races at the track, a total equaled by Joe Gibbs Racing with Hamlin's win last year.

That victory was Hamlin's track-record fourth at Kansas.

Between them, Hendrick and Gibbs have won nine of the 11 races this season, with Hendrick holding a 5-4 edge. The only winners not from those two camps are Daniel Suarez at Atlanta and Reddick at Talladega.

--NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series back in action at Kansas Speedway

After a two-week break, drivers in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series return to competition in Saturday night's Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway (8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Series leader Christian Eckes will go for his third victory of the season at a 1.5-mile track that has rewarded him with considerable success. Eckes is the most recent winner at Kansas, having taken the checkered flag in last September's Playoff race.

In addition, the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet has posted four top fives and six top 10s in eight starts at the track. He has six top 10s to his credit in seven starts this season, including five straight results of eighth or better entering Saturday's race.

"Our mile-and-a-half stuff has definitely shown a little bit of an improvement," Eckes said after finishing fourth at Texas on April 12 and seizing the points lead. "We still have a little bit of a ways to go, but we'll see how it goes."

No one else in the field can match Matt Crafton's experience at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford has competed in all 27 Truck Series events at the track, dating to the inaugural race in 2001.

With three victories each, Crafton and Kyle Busch share the track record for most Truck Series wins. Busch, who is not racing at Kansas on Saturday, already has two Truck Series victories in four starts this season.

On the other hand, Crafton, a three-time series champion, hasn't won in the series since he took the checkered flag at Kansas in 2020 -- a drought that reached 88 races at Texas.

Notes: Grant Enfinger is the defending winner of the Heart of America 200 ... Australian driver Cam Waters will make his second Truck Series start on Saturday. He finished 30th last month at Martinsville in his debut with ThorSport Racing.