Welcome to NASCAR Race Central, your one-stop hub for accessing the latest race schedules, results and driver stats for the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series.
* Links activate when data is present.
Sunday, October 27th at 2:30pm ET
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
Tyler Reddick secures Championship Four sp…
In the most dramatic Playoff race of the 2024 season – featuring three different leaders in the final three laps – 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick made a clutch pass out of Turn 4 on the last lap to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday when it counted most.
Reddick passed his team owner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin with two laps to go then moved high up against the wall to pass Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in the final corner to claim the Straight Talk Wireless 400 trophy and secure a position in the Championship Four in two weeks in the Phoenix Raceway season finale.
His team owner, NBA Legend Michael Jordan raised his arms and cheered loudly from pit lane as Reddick celebrated on the frontstretch after the race, “Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off and I’m proud of him,” exclaimed Jordan. “He didn’t let go, he just went for it and we needed it. We needed it.”
After getting a huge hug from Jordan, Reddick – the Regular Season Champion – was all smiles, proud of his move and his 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota team – which put him out front for a race best 97 of the 267 laps – and ultimately handed him the chance at the win after a late race caution flag forced a restart with only seven laps remaining. It marks his eighth career series’ win and third of the season.
“I don’t know, we were backed in a corner and had no other choice – I knew we were on a tire deficit and here at Homestead that’s a death sentence, but I didn’t care,” Reddick said of moving back into the lead after being passed in a four-wide move on the re-start only to work his way back to the point in the final six laps.
Because he had just pit for tires four laps before that final caution flag, Reddick actually was positioned on the front row for that re-start – the only driver who stayed out during that final pit cycle because he had just pit for fresh tires four laps earlier. He restarted on the front row alongside Blaney but was fourth a lap later in the frenzied final run.
“We did what it took to win this race and we’re fighting for a championship,” said the 28-year-old Californian, who became only the second driver in 22 years to win at Homestead from pole position.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he added of the pass “I just knew I needed to get even with him on his right side door and he raced me clean and I appreciate it. I’m just really, really excited having a shot at the championship.”
While the win vaulted Reddick to an automatic Playoff berth, it left both Blaney and Hamlin in must-win positions heading into next week’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Team Penske’s Joey Logano claimed the first Championship Four entry last week at Las Vegas and with Reddick’s victory Sunday only two positions are still available for the race for the 2024 title.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who finished fourth Sunday, leads the points standings and holds a 27-point edge on the Playoff cutoff line. Sunday’s sixth-place finisher, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron is in that fourth and final transfer position in the standings with a 7-point cushion over Hendrick Motorsports’ teammate Kyle Larson.
JGR’s Hamlin is now sixth, 18 points back. The reigning series champion Blaney is seventh, 38 points behind Byron and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, who finished fifth at Homestead, is ranked eighth, 43 points below the cutoff line.
“Obviously, it’s disappointment – had a great shot to win and didn’t have a very good last lap,” Blaney said. “Man, I thought I got into [turn] three hard and the 45 [Reddick] just blitzed up in there and it stuck for him which is very impressive.
“Hate to give one away like that, although I don’t know if we gave it away. Got the lead back after losing it on the re-start and just last lap just didn’t play out for us. Just really stinks. I appreciate everyone on the 12-team for bringing a really fast race car. We had a really fast race car and I had a really great shot to go to Phoenix and still have one more chance.”
Byron placed sixth Sunday, followed by his Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger was eighth with Spire Motorsports rookie Carson Hocevar and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece rounding out the top-10.
The final opportunity for drivers to secure a position in the Championship Four comes in next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Blaney is the defending race winner and Byron won there this Spring.
Of note, Elliott, Blaney and Bell all have past wins at Martinsville to land Championship Four berths.
* Links activate when data is present.
Saturday, October 26th at 4:00pm ET
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
Austin Hill earns a spot in Xfinity Champi…
An emotional Austin Hill climbed out of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch to celebrate one of the most significant race wins of his burgeoning career – claiming the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit Card 300 trophy Saturday and securing one of four positions to race for a trophy in the Nov. 9 series championship finale.
Hill – who also swept both of the race’s stage wins – took the lead from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer with 11 laps remaining Saturday evening at the 1.5-mile South Florida track and raced off to a healthy 3.045-second win over the fellow Playoff driver and reigning series champion Custer.
It was the fourth win of the season for Hill and 10th of this career. But importantly, it is the first time the 30-year-old Georgia native will have a chance to race for the championship trophy after multi-win seasons the last three years.
“I worked so hard for this, a lot of people doubt me but I wake up every day to prove them wrong,” Hill said. “I deserve to be here and I deserve to race for a championship. This 21-team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their [butts] off each and every day just like I do. I’ve got to give it up to those guys. They gave me a hell of a car.
“I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start-finish line, but I had to get my emotions together going into Turn 1 after the checkered, all the hard work and dedication that goes into this. I don’t think everyone’s going to understand what this means for me, for my family and for [sponsor] Bennett. … I had to be on it today.
Pausing to take it in, he added, “This is amazing. To be able to go the Final Four. I’ve worked so hard at this and my dreams came true.”
With his win and A.J. Allmendinger’s victory last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, now only two positions remain for the title chase with one more race remaining – at the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week – to establish the championship foursome.
JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier – who only had three previous top-10 finishes at Homestead – took the checkered flag in eighth place which was good enough to keep the driver of the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet with the points lead in third place should he need that to advance to the championship race.
Custer, whose No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led a race best 87 of the 200 laps, is now on that fourth-place cutoff line with a 28-point advantage over Saturday’s race pole-winner Chandler Smith. Smith, finished 13th and as with the bottom four ranked drivers is essentially in a must-win situation next weekend.
Hill’s rookie teammate Jesse Love ran up front much of the day and finished fourth. He’s now sixth in the points standings – 35 points below Custer.
“It just shows you how good you have to be to get in the Championship Four,” Love said, noting of the Phoenix finale, “I feel like if we could get there we have a shot to win.”
JR Motorsports teammates Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith finished ninth and 22nd, respectively and find themselves in a similar must-win situation to Chandler Smith and Love next week at Martinsville.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Aric Almirola finished third Saturday behind the Playoff drivers, with Love and JGR’s Sheldon Creed rounding out the top-five. Custer’s SHR teammate Riley Herbst, RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Mayer and last week’s race winner Allmendinger completed the top-10.
Of note, 18-year-old William Sawalich finished 24th in his much-anticipated Xfinity Series debut.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler next week for Saturday’s National Debt Relief 200 (4 p.m. ET on The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Allgaier is the defending race winner. Almirola won at the track this Spring.
* Links activate when data is present.
Saturday, October 26th at 12:00pm ET
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
Grant Enfinger grabs second Truck Playoffs…
A strategy call from the pit box coupled with a patient move forward landed veteran Grant Enfinger his second consecutive NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff race win in Saturday’s Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway while his closest competitors ran out of fuel behind him in the closing laps.
Enfinger, who won the opening race in this Playoff round at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway three weeks ago denied the other seven Playoff racers a chance at an automatic bid into championship contention. So now at least two drivers will advance based on points-earned with only next Saturday’s race at Martinsville, Va. to settle which other three drivers move onward into the title fight.
Enfinger’s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet suffered damage on an early race restart, and the team opted to move to a different pit strategy – taking tires and fuel on lap 80 while most of the day’s previous race leaders opted to pit later on Lap 100. Ultimately Enfinger was able to both save enough fuel and race off to enough advantage that no one was able to catch him as he raced away to his 12th career victory.
Taking the lead for good with 22 laps remaining, Enfinger claimed a 17.5-second win over ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski as other trucks on a similar alternate strategy to Enfinger – the No. 38 driven by Layne Riggs and the No. 2 driven by Nick Sanchez – began running out of fuel in the final two laps.
Enfinger had enough fuel he even did a burnout to celebrate the win.
“At the end of the day, [crew chief] Jeff [Stankiewicz] just had the best truck out here,” said Enfinger, who actually made up a lap on track after contact on a race re-start cut his tire earlier in the day.
“Our car was really fast after about five laps yesterday [in practice] and was the same way today. Jeff did a good job managing me with the tires and then managing me with the fuel. I feel like I saved at least 20 percent more than I did in the first run. Jeff was on me pretty hard obviously and the 38 [Layne Riggs] ran out and the 2 [Nick Sanchez] did too.
“Hard to beat these two weeks,” he added with a grin.
“We’ve had potential all year,” the 38-year-old Alabama native continued. “There’s been sometimes, I haven’t executed and sometimes we’ve just had bad luck. Maybe it’s just time we get our momentum now.”
Connor Mosack finished a career best third-place in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports truck. The day’s most dominant truck, driven by TRICON Garage’s Playoff driver Corey Heim finished fourth after leading a race best 68 of the 134 laps. Heim continues to lead the championship standings and is now 49 points above fifth place with the top-four drivers advancing to the title race.
“Overall, a good day for points, but disappointing,” said Heim, who has a series best six wins on the year. “We were so fast last year and wanted to come back and redeem ourselves and win the race of course. But no complaints as far as points go, makes Martinsville a little bit easier if we put together a decent day.”
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Playoff driver Tyler Ankrum, finished fifth – his best finish of the Playoff run to date. Veteran Stewart Friesen was sixth, followed by Daniel Dye.
And three Playoff drivers – Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth, McAnally-Hilgemann’s Christian Eckes and Tricon Garage’s Taylor Gray rounded out the top-10.
Heading into the next race, Heim has that 49-point edge above the cutoff line. Eckes is 38 points to the good and Majeski now holds a 22-point advantage. Caruth is ranked fifth, the first driver outside the Playoff bubble, 22 points back. Gray is 24 points back and Ankrum and Sanchez – who finished 13th after running out of fuel – are 41 and 43 points behind, respectively.
Frankie Muniz, the popular actor from the Malcolm in the Middle television series, finished 33rd in his series debut, his truck suffering mechanical problems early in the race.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races in the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next Friday evening (6 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to settle the Championship Four field. Eckes won the race there this April.