Nascar news

• Progressive Insurance Returns to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2026

  05-02-2026 17:27 via sports.yahoo.com
  Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesProgressive Insurance is returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2026, sponsoring Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE in 11 NASCAR Cup Series events, starting at Texas Motor Speedway in May and including the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.The industry-leading insurance provider joined Joe Gibbs Racing and Hamlin as an anchor partner in 2025, sponsoring 18 races and finding immediate success, with victories at Martinsville Speedway, Dover Motor Speedway, a
  
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• Tristan McKee Signs Multi-Year Deal With JR Motorsports

  16-10-2026 18:15 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Tristan McKee now has a plan for his next three years in NASCAR. JR Motorsportsannounced Friday that the 16-year-old will drive its No. 9 Chevrolet in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.McKee is a development driver for Spire Motorsports, and that relationship will continue. He will run a part-time Craftsman Truck Series schedule for Spire in 2027 in the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado, after running the No. 77 this year.His first O’Reilly start with JRM is set for Bristol Motor Speedway on Au
  
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• How USA Network produces the most crucial races of the NASCAR Chase

  16-10-2026 17:56 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  CONCORD, NC — Jeff Burton is in the middle of a point, trying to break down what’s going on with Denny Hamlin’s pit crew, and then he cuts himself off: "So see that’s what – Oh! Big crash!"Play-by-play man Leigh Diffey then retakes the reins of the broadcast to focus on a wreck: "Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, this is nasty." It’s brief, but sums up what all the viewers can see on the screen, and allows Steve Letarte to chime in and provide details."These guys we
  
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• NASCAR: Kevin Harvick Issues Kyle Larson Warning as Chase Rivals Face a Costly Problem

  16-10-2026 17:41 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 11: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11, 2026 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) GettyKevin Harvick warned NASCAR Cup Series Chase contenders that their chances of catching Kyle Larson are dwindling.Speaking on his Happy Hour podcast, the former Cup Series champion pointed to Larson’s growing poi
  
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• Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports in 2027 with future plans for full-time ride

  16-10-2026 17:09 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Motorsport photoOn Friday, JR Motorsports announced that 16-year-old Tristan McKee has signed a deal to race part-time for the team during the 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) season. He will pilot the No. 9 Chevrolet, and the plan includes a full-time ride set for 2029.He will make his NOAPS debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, August 13, 2027. McKee will continue to race part-time in the NASCAR Truck Series next year as well, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Si
  
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• "Kind of a Hail Mary"- William Byron Questions His Own Championship Reality With Humble Admission

  16-10-2026 17:09 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  May 31, 2026, Lebanon, Tennessee, USA: Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron stands on pit road prior to the start of the Cracker Barrel 400 NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Lebanon USA – ZUMAf195 20260531_zsp_f195_001 Copyright: xStephenxFurstx ©IMAGO/ZUMA Press WireThe final stretch of a NASCAR Cup Series season can look very different for a driver who spent the previous year fighting at the front. Expectations rise after a strong campaign, and
  
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• Tristan McKee to Make O’Reilly Debut With JR Motorsports in 2027, Going Full-Time in 2029

  16-10-2026 17:08 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  As Tristan McKee continues his ascent through Spire Motorsports driver development program, the 16-year-old has reached a multi-year agreement with JR Motorsports, which will see the budding young racer make his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut next season.According to JR Motorsports, McKee will pilot the team’s No. 9 Chevrolet in the Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway next August. In 2028, McKee will drive an expanded schedule for the organization in 2028, and will go full-
  
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• NASCAR Hall of Famer Questions Kyle Larson’s 49-Point Lead as Championship Pressure Builds

  16-10-2026 16:45 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 04: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars/KyleBuschTribute Chevrolet, looks on after the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 04, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) GettyKyle Larson holds a 49-point lead in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes the championship race remains far from over.With four races left, the Hendrick Motorsports driver leads Denny Hamlin by 49 points, Chr
  
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• How to Watch NASCAR at Phoenix Raceway: TV Coverage and Streaming

  16-10-2026 16:22 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  AVONDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 08: Riley Herbst, driver of the #35 Monster Energy Toyota, Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 Fry's/Artesano/Kraft Ford, Connor Zilisch, driver of the #88 Wendy's Chevrolet, and AJ Allmendinger, driver of the #16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 08, 2026 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) GettyNASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway from October 16 to 18 for a crucial weeken
  
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• Mark Martin on why he won't race again: "I don't have it anymore"

  16-10-2026 15:40 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Motorsport photoMark Martin is one of the most respected figures in NASCAR, and this week, he appeared on our very own Motorsport Show to chat with Taylor Kitchen and Matt Weaver.The Arkansas native started an incredible 882 Cup races between 1981 and 2013, winning 40 times. That incredible career included a remarkable five-win season when he was 50 years old, ending the year as the championship runner-up.But he's now 67, and while he's been offered the chance to get back behind the wheel again
  
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• Kevin Harvick Issues Stark Warning to NASCAR Championship Contenders About Kyle Larson

  16-10-2026 15:15 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Kevin Harvick believes NASCAR’s championship contenders are running out of time to catch Kyle Larson. And with four races remaining in the Cup Series season, the former champion sees a much smaller window for anyone hoping to close the gap.Larson heads into Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway with a 49-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the Chase standings. Christopher Bell trails by 51 points, followed by Chase Briscoe at 65, Ryan Blaney at 85 and Joey Logano at 92.Those margins are alrea
  
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• What channel is the NASCAR Truck Series Phoenix race on today? Time, TV schedule

  16-10-2026 12:06 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continues the Chase with the Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 on Oct. 16 at Phoenix Raceway.Layne Riggs' win at Charlotte last week narrowed the championship chase, with Kaden Honeycutt's lead down to 17 points ahead of Riggs.Honeycutt and Riggs are the two top championship contenders, with Chandler Smith (-77) third in the standings. Honeycutt and Riggs have combined to win five of the last six races and 10 of 21 overall this year.Here's how you can watch the NASCAR
  
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• NASCAR Phoenix full weekend track schedule, TV schedule for the Freeway Insurance 500, other races

  16-10-2026 12:06 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  NASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway for the second time this season for a full weekend of racing, including the Freeway Insurance 500 Cup Series race on Oct. 19.All three national series will be on track each weekend for the rest of the way through the finale at Homestead.The Craftsman Truck Series will run on Oct. 16, while the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series will race on Oct. 17.Four races remain in the Chase, with Kyle Larson's championship lead up to 49 points ahead of Denny Hamlin.Here is the full o
  
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• Ryan Blaney, Team Penske in championship focus with best tracks ahead

  16-10-2026 11:12 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Chase Briscoe is in the midst of a heater in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.Two wins and a fourth-place finish in the past three races have him firmly in the championship conversation, just behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, all chasing Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson in the points lead.Surely, with four races to go, that means this championship is a battle between JGR and Hendrick Motorsports, right?“I don’t know if I w
  
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• Tristan McKee joins JR Motorsports for long-term O'Reilly plan

  16-10-2026 11:08 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Spire Motorsports development driver Tristan McKee has signed with JR Motorsports to compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on a part-time basis next season, with plans to go full time in 2029.McKee, 16, will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for JRM part-time in the 2027 and 2028 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series campaigns before becoming eligible to compete full time in 2029 with JRM.The Kannapolis, North Carolina, driver — who shares a hometown with Dale Earnhardt — is set
  
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• Kasey Kahne Offers Reality Check on Tom Cruise’s Bold NASCAR Plans for ‘Days of Thunder’

  16-10-2026 03:07 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Copyright: xTimothyxL.xHalex ©IMAGO/ZUMA Press WireIn 1990, Cole Trickle rolled into Daytona as an open-wheel hotshot with no stock car experience and everything to prove. Thirty-six years later, the 64-year-old actor who played him wants to run a real ARCA Menards Series race ahead of the sequel, due June 2, 2028.In a sport where drivers spend years in lesser cars before anyone offers a Cup ride, that lands hard. Kasey Kahne, an 18-time Cup Series winner, was asked on a podcast whether out
  
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• Why Does Phoenix Raceway Have a Jimmie Johnson Drive?

  16-10-2026 01:13 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Thousands of NASCAR fans will make their way to Phoenix Raceway this weekend for Sunday’s Freeway Insurance 500. Along the way, some might notice a familiar name on the street signs leading to the track.Jimmie Johnson Drive isn’t a coincidence. The road leading to Phoenix Raceway was named in honor of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, whose remarkable career included one of the most dominant stretches in the track’s history.And there’s a story behind w
  
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• How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

  16-10-2026 00:47 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Motorsport photoNASCAR heads back out west to Phoenix Raceway with a triple-header weekend of racing, featuring Cup, O'Reilly, and Trucks.Phoenix hosted the season finale between 2020-2025, but there are still three races to go after this race weekend. Ryan Blaney has won the last two Phoenix Cup races and Team Penske is sexepcted to be strong once again.Kyle Larson continues to lead the championship standings, now 49 points clear of Denny Hamlin and 51 points ahead of Christopher Bell. After wi
  
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• Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

  16-10-2026 00:23 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Motorsport photoRyan Ellis has secured full-time ride in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series for the 2027 season with Alpha Prime Racing. Tablo TV will follow Ellis to the team as an anchor partner.He has almost 200 starts in the secondary level of NASCAR, and used to race for Alpha Prime between 2022 and 2024.“I’m incredibly excited to be back at Alpha Prime Racing,” Ellis said. “This team has been a massive part of my NASCAR career. The last time we were together
  
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• Kyle Busch’s Emotional NASCAR Tribute Draws Attention as TV Ratings Revealed

  15-10-2026 22:52 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Kyle Busch’s Celebration of Life at Charlotte Motor Speedway was one of the most emotional moments of NASCAR’s 2026 season. Now, newly released television ratings offer a look at how many fans tuned in to remember the late two-time Cup Series champion.According to Nielsen figures shared Wednesday, Oct. 14, by Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern, the televised Kyle Busch tribute drew 193,000 viewers on FS1.The figure comes after a weekend filled with tributes to Busch, who died
  
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• Will Ferrell Makes Hilarious NASCAR Confession About ‘Talladega Nights’ 20 Years Later

  15-10-2026 22:20 via yahoo.com
  Twenty years after “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” hit theaters, Will Ferrell has a confession to make: He knew next to nothing about NASCAR when he came up with the idea for the movie.For millions of racing fans, Ferrell will always be Ricky Bobby, the wildly overconfident driver who gave NASCAR one of its most recognizable Hollywood characters. But the actor recently admitted that his introduction to stock car racing was hardly what fans might expect.During a July app
  
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• Kyle Petty Blames No. 11 Team for Denny Hamlin’s Costly Pit Stop

  15-10-2026 21:42 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Denny Hamlin‘s first pit stop at Charlotte cost him dearly. Two analysts now say his own team deserves much of the blame.Steve Letarte and Kyle Petty broke down the stop on NASCAR‘s Inside the Race. Letarte, a former Hendrick Motorsports crew chief and now an NBC motorsports analyst, shared the segment on X.“The big issue was this tire right here. He was called for a safety violation because this crew member, unfortunately, falls over and touches the ground. It could have been
  
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• Former NASCAR Driver Makes Emotional Admission to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

  15-10-2026 21:24 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel shared an emotional admission to Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a recent episode of “Dale Jr. Download.” Hmiel, 46, was the first driver to be banned by NASCAR after failing multiple drug tests that spanned across nearly three years.In 2010, Hmiel was paralyzed in a qualifying crash for the USAC Silver Crown race. In the recent episode of Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast, Hmiel opened up about the ups and downs of his NASCAR career and life afte
  
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• “Don’t Use the Car as a Weapon”: NASCAR Insider Demands Punishment After Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Post-Race Outburst

  15-10-2026 21:00 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Ricky Stenhouse Jr ©Credits: ImagoRicky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell settled their differences on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s cooldown lap, but not everyone in NASCAR thinks the incident should end there. After Stenhouse door-slammed McDowell’s No. 71 Chevrolet, McDowell retaliated and eventually spun the No. 47. Despite reviewing the incident from multiple camera angles, NASCAR officials didn’t penalize either driver. Now, a NASCAR insider is pushing back on the deci
  
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• NASCAR Power Rankings: Where Does Briscoe Rank After Back-To-Back Wins?

  15-10-2026 20:19 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson (5) and driver Chase Briscoe (19) lead the first laps during the Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectA few weeks ago, it looked like Chase Briscoe's chances at a NASCAR Cup Series title were all but over. Then, he went on a magical three-race run, where he nearly won at Kansas Speedway and then pulled off back-to-back wins at Las Vegas and this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. N
  
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• Will Ferrell’s Desperate Hollywood Pivot Created NASCAR’s Most Famous Movie

  15-10-2026 20:00 via yahoo.com
  Copyright: xXavierxCollin/ImagexPressxAgencyx ©IMAGO/Image Press AgencyHollywood kept rejecting Anchorman, and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay were running out of patience. After facing a string of studio rejections, the comedy duo considered a different route: make a movie around something audiences already loved. NASCAR was booming in popularity, so Ferrell pitched an idea that sounded almost too ridiculous to work: make him a race car driver. Yet he barely knew anything about the sport. That
  
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• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Reveals What Really Fueled Michael McDowell Clash at Charlotte

  15-10-2026 19:48 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 11: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the #47 Beyond Resilience Chevrolet, waits backstage during pre-race ceremonies prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 11, 2026 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) GettyRicky Stenhouse Jr. wasn’t looking for a fight with Michael McDowell at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But by the time Sunday’s Bank of America 400 ended, he’d had enoug
  
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• Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says Kyle Larson’s 49-Point Lead Is Far From Safe

  15-10-2026 19:48 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not ready to hand Kyle Larson the championship. Larson leads the NASCAR Cup Series Chase by 49 points with four races left, but the motorsports analyst and team owner believes the gap is smaller than it looks.Earnhardt discussed the title fight on this week’s Dale Jr. Download. “Now, 49 points ahead, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, you got Denny Hamlin at 49, Christopher Bell at 51, Chase Briscoe 65 back. And then Ryan Blaney is 85 back,
  
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• Dale Jr. Moved by Brexton Busch’s Resilience as 11-Year-Old Navigates Life After Kyle’s Death

  15-10-2026 19:41 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  ©IMAGO/Icon SportswireThe roar of the engine and the smoke pouring off the tires made Brexton Busch’s burnout at Charlotte Motor Speedway a moment NASCAR fans won’t soon forget. But for the 11-year-old, climbing behind the wheel of his late father Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet was about much more than putting on a show. It was a tribute to the man he lost and a glimpse of how he is continuing to embrace the racing world they shared. Now, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is praising Brext
  
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• The Earnhardt Family Feud: Why Dale Jr. Walked Away From His Father’s Racing Empire

  15-10-2026 19:21 via sports.yahoo.com
  
  IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectDale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the most recognizable names in NASCAR, but there was a time when using his full surname on his race car became a legal issue.After his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., died in the 2001 Daytona 500, disagreements over the family business and the rights to the Earnhardt name created tension between Junior and his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.Looking back on that period, Dale Jr. explained why he eventually removed “Earnhardt”
  
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