NASCAR Race Central
Links to race information and statistics for the current and previous races in each Series.
NASCAR Cup Series
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Race Preview
New Hampshire could be a key race for thos…
- Thursday, June 20th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
New Hampshire could be a key race for those with Playoff aspirations
With nine races remaining to set the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, each of the upcoming summertime events represents a crucial opportunity for drivers still trying to secure that championship opportunity.
A pair of two-time NASCAR Cup Series champions in Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch are among an accomplished group still needing to guarantee their chance to race for a championship. A victory in Sunday’s USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the surest way to do that.
The New Hampshire “Magic Mile” has historically been a sort of winner’s circle wild card with an uncharacteristically high 19 percent of its race winners starting outside the top-20 on the grid. Six of the last 11 race winners started outside the top-10 and 2021 winner Aric Almirola rolled off 22nd.
There are six former race winners in Sunday’s field – including Busch, who is a three-time winner and Logano, who is a two-time New Hampshire champ. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is tied with Busch for most wins (three) among active drivers. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski has a pair of trophies. And Christopher Bell and defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. have a win at the Magic Mile too.
Logano, whose two Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney have earned Playoff positions with wins already this season, is still racing for his first trophy. Surprisingly, Logano has had only a pair of top-five finishes through the opening 17 races – but his best showing – runner-up – came at the Richmond, Va. short track. He won at New Hampshire in 2009 and 2014.
Busch has similar 2024 statistics to Logano with only two top-five finishes. His best race of the season was a third place at the Atlanta 1.5-miler. It’s been six races since his last top 10 – eighth-place at Kansas. He’s had a frustrating stretch of races recently, with two 35th place finishes in the last three weeks (at Gateway and Iowa). He is the only active driver to win at New Hampshire from pole position (2017).
Logano and Busch are ranked 17th and 18th, respectively in the Playoff standings – with the Top-16 drivers advancing to the 10-race season championship competition.
As with that pair, Truex is still racing for his first trophy of the season. The 43-year-old New Jersey native would love nothing more than to hoist the winner’s lobster in back-to-back races considering his big news this week that he will retire from fulltime competition at the end of this season. Although the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champ is ranked highest (11th) in the Playoff standings among that titled-trio still racing for a 2024 win, he would prefer to secure the Playoff position with a trophy instead of points-racing.
A victory this week would make Truex only the fifth driver to earn consecutive wins at New Hampshire. His 1,170 laps led at the track is most among active drivers and he’s one of only four drivers in history to have led at least 1,000 miles at the 1.058-mile track. He’s earned 15 top-10 finishes in 30 starts and his 11.3 average finish is third best in the current field.
“It’s a tough place and it’s not gotten any easier since then,” said Truex, driver of the No. 19 JGR Toyota. “The older it gets, the harder it gets. Last year, we saw the track be very different than it’s ever been before. …
“It’s a very technical track and it’s gotten bumpy over the years as well,” Truex added. “It’s flat, has a fast entry and not a lot of grip. New Hampshire is a real challenge but it’s a lot of fun when you get it right. I know all our guys will be ready.”
Truex’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin will certainly be in this highly-motivated mix as well. All three of his wins this season have come on tracks one-mile or shorter and his 11 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in 30 New Hampshire starts are both tops among all active drivers. Busch also has 11 top-five efforts.
- Entry List
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- Qualifying - Saturday, June 22nd at 1:20pm ET
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PREVIOUS RACE
Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol
Sunday, June 16th at 7:00pm ET
Iowa Speedway, Newton, IA
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Race Recap
Two-tire call helps Ryan Blaney find Victo…
- Sunday, June 16th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Two-tire call helps Ryan Blaney find Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway
This time, there was no unpleasant surprise waiting for Ryan Blaney near the finish line of a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Grabbing the lead on crew chief Jonathan Hassler’s two-tire call under the final caution of Sunday night’s Iowa Corn 350, Blaney led the final 88 laps of the inaugural Cup race at 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.
In front of a large contingent of family and friends, the reigning series champion crossed the finish line 0.716 seconds ahead of runner-up William Byron, who was racing on four new tires after a pit stop under caution for Chris Buescher’s accident on Lap 260.
The victory was Blaney’s first of the season and the 11th of his career. Blaney now has won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having triumphed in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2012 and the Xfinity Series in 2015.
All told, the race winner led four times for 201 of 350 laps on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.
“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom (Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa),” said Blaney, who was leading June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway outside St. Louis before running out of fuel on the white-flag lap.
“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.
“I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”
Byron wasn’t surprised Blaney won the race on two fresh tires, given the quality of the Team Penske driver’s No. 12 Ford.
“No, he had a really good car, so he was up front and contending a lot, and him and the 5 (pole winner Kyle Larson) were really good,” Byron said. “So, we were just a step off of that, you know?
“I feel like I just needed to turn the center just a hair better and still kind of maintain the long run. Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”
In a race that featured eight cautions for 49 laps, Chase Elliott finished third, followed by Christopher Bell, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after blowing a right front tire and crashing in Friday’s practice.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fifth, with Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski completing the top 10.
The restart after the second stage break changed the entire dynamic of the race. Larson had just taken the green/checkered flag to claim his eighth stage victory of the season.
But on lap 220, one circuit after the final stage went green for the first time, contact from Suarez’s Chevrolet sent Larson’s Camaro spinning into the outside wall on the frontstretch, pinching Denny Hamlin’s Toyota into the barrier in the process.
Larson’s crew eventually repaired the wounded machine, but not until the 2021 champion had lost 31 laps in the garage. Larson finished 34th, 36 laps down and lost the series lead to Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
Larson, who led 80 laps on Sunday before the accident that waylaid him, trails Elliott by eight points with nine races left in the regular season.
- Complete Results
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- Driver Standings
- Owner Standings
NASCAR Xfinity Series
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Race Preview
Playoff spots are running out in the Xfini…
- Thursday, June 20th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Playoff spots are running out in the Xfinity Series
With 11 races remaining in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season and five Playoff-eligible positions still to be decided, Saturday’s SciApps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) could play a big role in setting the title vibe.
Only two drivers in the field – Justin Allgaier and NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell – have won at New Hampshire previously. Allgaier scored his win in 2022 and has an impressive nine top-10 finishes in 12 starts and hasn’t finished worse than seventh since 2018. The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet is fourth in the championship with a victory at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
Bell, a two-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, is looking to improve on an already stellar Magic Mile resume – winning the Xfinity race in all three of his starts (2018, 2019 and 2021). He will be driving the No. 20 Toyota this weekend for his NASCAR Cup Series team, Joe Gibbs Racing.
Saturday’s race marks a chance at redemption for JGR’s Chandler Smith, who finished runner-up last year at New Hampshire. The JGR team has won seven of the last eight races, including John Hunter Nemechek’s victory last season. Smith is one of four drivers with two wins this season and sits only a single-point behind championship leader Cole Custer in the standings.
The reigning series champion Custer, driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, is still competing for his first win of the year, but certainly has a good history at this New England track. He became the youngest winner in NASCAR’s national series history (16 years, 7 months, 28 days) when he claimed a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race win at the track in 2014. He’s earned three top-10s in four NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at New Hampshire with a best showing of runner-up in 2019.
Chandler Smith leads the Playoff picture, followed by two-time winners Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Shane van Gisbergen. Allgaier and rookie Jesse Love also have secured a shot at the 2024 title with a win this year.
In addition to Custer, drivers also currently Playoff bound based on points are Sheldon Creed, Riley Herbst, A.J. Allmendinger, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith.
This weekend the series regulars will have some added competition with three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore set to make his series debut driving for JGR.
- Entry List
- Practice - Friday, June 21st at 4:05pm ET
- Qualifying - Friday, June 21st at 4:35pm ET
- Race Lineup
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PREVIOUS RACE
Sci Aps 200
Saturday, June 22nd at 3:30pm ET
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH
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Race Recap
Christopher Bell goes four-for-four in Xfi…
- Saturday, June 22nd, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Christopher Bell goes four-for-four in Xfinity Series at New Hampshire
Christopher Bell kept it dramatic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon, relying on a last lap pass in overtime to claim the SciAps 200 victory – giving him a perfect four-for-four track record in NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the 1.058-mile track.
Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota pulled off a daring three-wide move with two corners to go and ultimately pulled away to a .254-second win over fellow JGR team driver Sheldon Creed. The runner-up showing for the Xfinity Series championship contender Creed was the 10th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett and former series champion Daniel Hemric for most runner-up finishes before a series win.
Bell, a fulltime NASCAR Cup Series competitor for JGR who has already scored two wins in the sport’s premier series this year, now ties Xfinity Series regular A.J. Allmendinger with four Xfinity Series wins in four starts at a single track – and is the fourth different driver to earn a victory in the No. 20 JGR Toyota this season. It is Bell’s 18th win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series scoring his wins at New Hampshire in 2018, ’19, ’21 and now 2024.
“I was just really fortunate, that’s for sure,” said Bell of that race-winning pass on Creed. “I feel so bad for Sheldon. He’s been really, really close to winning these things and today he did everything right to win that race. He re-started in the right lane and gave Cole [Custer] a good push. And coming to the white flag, he got Cole loose and that’s what opened the door for me.
“Very fortunate to keep my undefeated streak alive,” he continued with a smile. “We got really lucky there.”
Despite the recurring near-misses, Creed offered a smile and insisted he was encouraged that a win was close.
“I don’t know, running out of ways to lose them,” Creed said, mustering a smile before adding, “I can think of a million things I could do, that is not a stat I wanted to tie, 10 seconds before a win. …but overall, a great day and proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Been in the hunt the past four weeks so just going to keep working hard at it.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer led the most laps on the day – 114 of the 203 total – and finished third despite having the lead on that final overtime restart. The result was tough to take, but big picture, still good enough to keep him in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship lead by 15 points now over JGR’s Chandler Smith, who finished 15th.
While the reigning series champion Custer was out front for much of the overcast New England day – he was forced to hold off the field in four restarts in the final 22 laps hoping to claim that first victory of the season. He leaves without a trophy, but won his third stage of the season and maintains that championship advantage.
“I would have done the same thing, you know, you’re racing for the win, it is what it is,” Custer said of the tight racing between him and Creed competing for the win on the final lap. “Man, it just stings. I felt like we had the best car of the day. And that’s not easy to do at these flat short tracks.
“Our guys brought such a fast car. But you get put in those late race restarts, eventually it’s probably not going to go your way. But I’m gonna re-live what I could have done.
“Just gotta keep digging,” he continued. “We’ve got the points lead, just gotta keep knocking on the door.”
JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier rallied to finish fourth with teammate, 21-year-old rookie Carson Kvapil rounding out the top-five. He led 24 laps and used pit strategy to run among the leaders late in the race, which featured 15 lead changes among 10 drivers.
Ryan Sieg, Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Alex Bowman and Cory Heim rounded out the top-10 with season-long title-contenders Smith finishing 15th and Austin Hill, 25th – both being involved in incidents.
Justin Bonsignore finished 23rd in his series debut, but that finishing position was not indicative of his afternoon work. He won his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at New Hampshire Saturday morning and then impressively ran among the top-five in the Xfinity Series all afternoon – making a bold outside pass at one point early in the race to get into the top-five after starting 25th in the 38-car field.
He was ultimately collected in a late race incident that diminished his finish, but he still climbed out of his No. 19 JGR Toyota feeling rightly encouraged – his Modified team trackside cheering him on.
“Just really good pace and unfortunate we got turned around here,” Bonsignore said. “We had good pace all day long and just wished it would have stayed green there [at the end]. We were fifth and right there with Sheldon [Creed]. It’s tough. These late race restarts bunch everyone up, but all in all it was a great experience. … Hopefully we can put something together and do some more.”
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- Draftkings Results
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- Driver Standings
- Owner Standings
NASCAR Truck Series
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Race Preview
Regular Season Title Watch: Eckes controls…
- Wednesday, June 5th, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service -
Regular Season Title Watch: Eckes controls point standings with four to go
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes continues to have a breakout year as he holds onto the driver points lead in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with four races left in the regular season. The 23-year-old is currently 31 points up on Corey Heim in second as the series takes three weeks off before returning at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200 on Friday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
If Eckes can hold on and win the Regular Season Championship, he will get an additional 15 Playoff points to take with him into the postseason and will become the eighth different driver to win the regular season title; joining Christopher Bell (2017), Johnny Sauter (2018), Grant Enfinger (2019), Austin Hill (2020), John H. Nemechek (2021), Zane Smith (2022) and Corey Heim (2023).
Eckes’ points lead began after a strong showing at Darlington – earning himself a total of 50 points to jump over Heim. The Middletown, New York Native has accumulated two wins, six top-five, and 11 top-10 finishes this season. He also leads the series in laps led this season with 464.
The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet cannot yet clinch the Regular Season Championship since there are still four wins available.
Right in Eckes’ review mirror is last season’s Regular Season champion and TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim, who is coming off an impressive win last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 21-year-old driver of the No. 11 Toyota has collected four wins (the most of any driver this season), eight top fives, 10 top 10s, and has led 408 laps on the season.
Heim is hoping to catch Eckes within the next four races and become the first driver to win multiple Regular Season Championships in the series.
Repeat winners allow six spots still up for grabs in the Playoffs
Through 12 races this season, four drivers have earned their spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs by virtue of their wins – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth – leaving six spots in the 10-driver Playoff field still available heading into Nashville Superspeedway on June 28.
With only four races in the regular season remaining, the battle for the final postseason transfer spot is heating up and time is running out.
Following World Wide Technology Raceway, Stewart Friesen is ranked 11th in the Playoff outlook, 26 points back from Grant Enfinger in the 10th and final postseason transfer spot on points. Just behind Friesen is Daniel Dye in 12th, -37 points back from the postseason cutoff, and three-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton is 13th, -46 points back from Enfinger. Since the introduction of the Playoffs in the series in 2016, Matt Crafton has not missed the Playoffs, and he leads the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in postseason appearances with eight consecutive (2016-2023).
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will end ‘The Trip’ in Music City
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will have three weeks off to regroup before heading to Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200, the final race of the 2024 Triple Truck Challenge (Friday, June 28, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The 16 previous CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at the 1.33-mile track have produced 13 different race winners and 12 different pole winners. Seven of the Truck Series races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Ryan Preece in 2022.
Johnny Benson Jr., Kyle Busch, and Ryan Preece lead all drivers with two victories at the 1.33-mile track and Toyota leads the pack with the most wins in Nashville, coming in at six victories.
Season
Manufacturer
Race Winners
2005
Toyota
David Reutimann
2006
Toyota
Johnny Benson Jr.
2008
Toyota
Johnny Benson Jr.
2010
Toyota
Kyle Busch
2010
Toyota
Todd Bodine
2011
Toyota
Kyle Busch
Ford and Chevrolet follow with four trips to Victory Lane each and Dodge has two wins.
The Rackley Roofing 200 will be broken up into three stages. The first stage will be 45 laps, followed by 50 in the second stage, and the final stage will be 55 laps for a race total of 150 laps (199.5 miles).
Practice will begin Friday, June 28 at 4:30 p.m. ET followed by Cometic Gasket Pole Qualifying at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Brenden “Butterbean” Queen scores two more NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series starts –CARS Tour late model stock car standout Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will once again be joining forces with TRICON Garage to pilot the No. 1 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra at Nashville Superspeedway and Kansas Speedway.
The Chesapeake, Virginia driver had a breakout campaign in 2023 earning four victories, 13 top fives and 15 top 10s in CARS Tour competition enroute to a second-place finish in the series points standings.
In his CRAFTSMAN Truck Series debut at North Wilkesboro this season, the 26-year-old finished fourth.
“This will be my true test of aero racing and stuff like that,” said Queen. “For me, I want to go run well and perform, but like Wilkesboro I want to learn as much as I can and complete all the laps. I feel like if I can do that, that will put us in a good position to finish as well as we can. The whole time will be a learning curve with how the aero works, but it’s something that in this part of my career I need to go do. To have this opportunity this year is very valuable.”
- Entry List*
- Practice - Friday, June 28th at 4:30pm ET
- Qualifying - Friday, June 28th at 5:00pm ET
- Race Lineup*
- Pit Stall Selections*
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- Accupredict Driver Projections
* Links activate when data is present.
PREVIOUS RACE
Toyota 200
Saturday, June 1st at 1:30pm ET
World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, IL
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Race Recap
Corey Heim rebounds with timely NASCAR Tru…
- Saturday, June 1st, 2024
- NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Corey Heim rebounds with timely NASCAR Truck win at World Wide Technology Raceway
The early bird got the victory on Saturday afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
In a long green-flag run to start the final stage of the Toyota 200 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Corey Heim brought his No. 11 TRICON Garage Tundra to pit road before any of the other top trucks made green-flag stops, and the move paid off with optimum track position.
Heim held the top spot for a restart on Lap 138 of 160 and led the rest of the way, beating runner-up Christian Eckes to the finish line by 1.854 seconds, earning a $50,000 bonus as the winner of the second leg of the Triple Truck Challenge.
The victory was a welcome turnaround after Heim’s truck was disqualified from second place May 24 at Charlotte for three lug nuts not safe and secure. Heim won for the fourth time this season—all within the last eight races—the second time at Gateway and the ninth time in 53 career starts.
“Total team effort today,” Heim asserted. “We struggled a bit yesterday (in practice and qualifying) and worked a bit overnight on it. I have to say the pit crew redeemed themselves. Last week we could have won the race, and they made some mistakes, but they redeemed themselves today, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Heim started ninth and finished fifth in the first two stages. After a quick pit stop at the Stage 2 break, Heim restarted third on Lap 78 and grabbed the lead before the end of the circuit. He held the top spot until he pitted on Lap 115, one lap earlier than pole winner Ty Majeski who was chasing him in second place.
Vicente Salas’ spin on Lap 129 interrupted the cycle of green-flag stops, but Heim regained the lead on Lap 134 when drivers who had not yet pitted brought their trucks to pit road under the caution. Heim battled Majeski on the Lap 138 restart and prevailed.
“Corey was a little bit better, and I knew it,” said Majeski, who swept the first two stages and led 43 laps to Heim’s race-high 65. “I thought if I could get track position on him, maybe I could hold him off. I threw it into Turn 1, and he cleared me off of 2, and I had a couple other opportunities.
“I got into him a little bit. Probably needed a little bit harder for me to get enough of a run to get side-by-side with him down the back. But, yeah, just a little bit short balance-wise. Sometimes when you’re the best truck in the beginning of the race, you’re gun-shy to make changes.”
Majeski faded to fourth in the final 23 laps, losing positions to Eckes and third-place finisher Nick Sanchez on lap 151.
Eckes lost track position with a slow pit stop in the second stage break, restarted 11th on Lap 78 and finished second at Gateway for the third straight year.
“I definitely feel like we let that one slip,” Eckes said. “Disappointing, for sure… It sucks. I thought we had the best truck here.”
Layne Riggs finished fifth, followed by Chase Purdy, reigning series champion Ben Rhodes and Stewart Friesen. Two drivers making their series debuts—Andrés Pérez de Lara and Luke Fenhaus—came home ninth and 10th, respectively.
Note: The start of the race was delayed for two-and-a-half hours by rain… The final Triple Truck Challenge race is scheduled for June 28 at Nashville Superspeedway. Heim and Sanchez, last week’s Charlotte winner, could collect an additional $100,000 as the winners of two of three events in “The Trip.” A $50,000 bonus is available to all other drivers.
- Complete Results
- Loop Data Boxscore
- Pit Stop Performance
- Race Penalties
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- Draftkings Results
- Fanduel Results
- Accupredict Results
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- Driver Standings
- Owner Standings