NASCAR XFINITY Series teams are gearing up for the Drive for The Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 7th at 3 pm ET. Coverage is on NBCSN at 2:30 pm ET with radio coverage available on PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Continue reading
NASCAR XFINITY Series teams are gearing up for the Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond Raceway, Friday, September 8th at 7:30 pm ET. Coverage begins on NBC Sports Network at 7 pm ET along with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Drivers will race 187.5 miles over 250 laps with Stage 1 ending on lap 75, Stage 2 on lap 150, and the last Stage ending on the last lap 250. Continue reading
If your favorite driver isn’t currently eligible for the May 20 Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, you can lend a helping hand.
Simply go to NASCAR.com/fanvote on the web and cast a ballot. The polls are open, and the driver with the most votes at the cutoff (11:59 p.m. on May 19) will earn the final spot in the exhibition race that will make an instant millionaire of the winner. Continue reading
Daytona 500 pole winner Chase Elliott put an exclamation on his qualifying effort with a victory in Thursday night’s first Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott passed second-place starter Brad Keselowski for the lead on lap 37 and held it the rest of the way—through a wreck that altered the positions of the two Open Team drivers trying to race their way into the field for the 59th running of the Great American Race.
In the second Duel, defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin got a huge push from Austin Dillon and passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the next-to-last lap to win the race by 0.214 seconds over Clint Bowyer, who was competing for the first time in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Continue reading
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Christmas comes but once a year. The same is true of the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500.
Unlike Christmas, however, the setting and ordering of the field for the Great American Race takes five days, from single-car qualifying on Sunday through the Can-Am Duel at Daytona twin 150-mile races on Thursday.
The basics are straightforward. Only two cars in Sunday’s time trails are locked into their starting positions for the Daytona 500—the pole winner and the car that qualifies on the outside of the front row.
Of the 42 entries for the race, 36 hold Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series charters and are guaranteed to compete on Feb. 26. That leaves six drivers fighting for the four remaining positions in the 500. Those drivers are Elliott Sadler, Timmy Hill, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Corey LaJoie and DJ Kennington.
Qualifying on Sunday sets the starting order for the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday, with the odd-number qualifiers (positions 1-3-5, etc.) running the first Duel, and even numbers competing in the second Duel.
The finishing positions in the Thursday races determine the starting positions for the 500, with the exception of the front row. The winner of the first Duel, which forms the inside row, starts third in the Great American Race, with the winner of the second Duel starting fourth, on the outside of the second row.
If either of the front row starters wins a Duel, then the second-row position goes to second place finisher in that particular Duel.
Open drivers, those competing without charters, have two avenues into the 500. The highest-finishing driver in each of the Can-Am Duels earns a starting position on Feb. 26. The final two positions go to the two fastest among the open drivers in Sunday’s time trials, if not already qualified through the Duels.
Aside from determining who’s fastest in single-car runs, this year’s qualifying session will provide several story lines of keen interest to NASCAR fans.