Latest news with #NASCARCup
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
What to watch for in tonight's NASCAR Cup race at Nashville
LEBANON, Tenn. — The second half of the NASCAR Cup regular season begins with tonight's race at Nashville Superspeedway and there's much at stake for several drivers in the field. Here are a few things to keep an eye on in tonight's race (7:19 p.m. ET green flag on Prime): Taking advantage of the pole … Chase Briscoe gets another chance to take advantage of winning the pole. While he finished third in last weekend's Coca-Cola 600 after starting on the pole, he led only one lap, did not score points in the first two stages and ended with only two points in the third stage. Briscoe was undone by a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire on his first stop. That shows how a problem even early in a 600-mile race can have an impact throughout the event. Tonight's race at Nashville is 399 miles. 'It's frustrating,' Briscoe told NBC Sports about last weekend's performance. 'It really just comes down to kind of how our season's been all year. We just haven't been able to put, at first a full day together, especially a full weekend. Last weekend, we talked about it all week, if we qualify well, we should be able to really maximize our stage points.' Instead, he didn't score as many as a pole-sitter would be expected to do so. Briscoe ranks last among drivers in a playoff spot in stage points scored this year with 18. Eight drivers outside a playoff spot have scored more stage points than Briscoe this season. Dustin Long, Bubba's bounce back? Bubba Wallace is succinct in describing his last few races: 'The last three weeks, four weeks, if you want to count All-Star, just (expletive).' Wallace has finished 33rd or worse in the last three points races, dropping him from seventh to 12th in the season standings. Last year, 14 of the 16 playoff drivers won in the regular season but this season the victories have been concentrated among a small group of drivers, which could mean more playoff spots will be determined by points. With Wallace falling in the standings, he could be getting close to that area. For all that, Wallace is keeping a better attitude. He admits in years past that he would focus too much on what has happened in the last few weeks and not what his team has done all season to still allow him to be 38 points above the cutline entering Nashville. 'You're going to have bad races,' Wallace said. 'I've seen so many guys have bad races, like Denny (Hamlin), right, have so many bad races. His stats the last three aren't that great either. Bad luck struck at Charlotte. They show up the next week like 'What happened last week?' They don't care. 'And so I've started to kind of look at that and as much as it sucks, as much as it weighs you down, you have to show up for your team and for your sponsors and enjoy it.' It also helps that Wallace will start 12th and have a chance to score points in the first stage. But another bad finish could drop him closer to the cutline. Deep in the pack Kyle Larson has an average finish of 4.5 at Nashville and is the only driver to place in the top 10 in all four Cup races at Nashville. He has work to do if he is to extend that streak. Larson qualified 28th — his worst starting spot since Phoenix in March 2019. How quickly can he get to the front? Will he score points in the first stage? Nate Ryan, Locked in … The top 32 drivers in points after tonight's race will be locked into the in-season tournament, which will begin later this month in Atlanta. Brad Keselowski enters tonight's race 32nd in points. Admittedly, Keselowski has other things to worry about — last week's fifth-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 was his first top 10 of the year — but should Keselowski have another poor finish, the could be in jeopardy of not being a part of the tournament. The winner gets $1 million. Keselowski starts a season-best sixth tonight.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
NASCAR at Nashville 2025: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for Cracker Barrel 400
NASCAR at Nashville 2025: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for Cracker Barrel 400 Show Caption Hide Caption Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Prime Video NASCAR coverage will provide new ways to cover the sport Starting on May 25th, Prime Video will have exclusive coverage of 5 NASCAR Cup series events. Dale Earnhardt Jr will be in the broadcast booth and reveals what to expect from their coverage. The NASCAR Cup Series made its debut at the Nashville Superspeedway in 2021 after the circuit didn't come through the city for nearly 40 years, and the venue has quickly entrenched itself as a compelling annual stop again. NASCAR returns to the Nashville, Tennessee area for the fifth-straight year with the Cracker Barrel 400 scheduled for Sunday night. The stakes keep growing now that the 2025 NASCAR season is officially past its halfway point and the standings remain mostly bunched together with only 12 races remaining before the playoffs begin. After an exciting Coca-Cola 600 in which Ross Chastain surged past William Byron late for his first win of 2025, the brief history of the Cracker Barrel 400 suggests more action is on the way. Last year's race at Nashville Superspeedway featured a record number of overtime restarts and 31 extra laps. Joey Logano emerged as the winner and it eventually led to his third series championship last fall. Chastain won the 2023 NASCAR race in Nashville and Kyle Larson, after attempting to race in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 last week, is the only driver in the Cracker Barrel 400 field with top-10 finishes in all four previous NASCAR Cup Series races at Nashville Superspeedway. Here's all the information you need to get ready for Sunday's race: NASCAR HALL OF FAME: 2026 class includes Kurt Busch, Harry Gant, Ray Hendrick What time does the NASCAR Cracker Barrel 400 start? The Cracker Barrel 400 is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. What TV channel is the NASCAR Cracker Barrel 400 on? There is no national television broadcast for Sunday's race. Amazon Prime Video is streaming the 2025 Cracker Barrel 400, the second of five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series races on the app. Will there be a live stream of the Cracker Barrel 400? The race can be live streamed on Amazon Prime Video. How many laps is the Cracker Barrel 400? NASCAR's only race at Nashville Superspeedway this season will feature 300 laps around the 1.33-mile track, which works out to about 399 miles total. The race will be broken into three stages — Stage 1: 90 laps; Stage 2: 95 laps; Stage 3: 115 laps. Who won the Cracker Barrel 400 last year? Joey Logano got his first win of the 2024 season and secured a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after a record five overtime restarts at NASCAR's Nashville race, which was called the Ally 400 last year. What is the lineup for the NASCAR Cracker Barrel 400? (Car number in parentheses)
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson Races to WME
WME gets to rev its talent-representation engines with a new client, NASCAR great Jimmie Johnson. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will rely on the agency for representation in all areas, and to extend his influence via team ownership, working with brands, entrepreneurial pursuits and media including his Sirius XM podcast, 'Never Settle,' which Johnson hosts with Marty Smith. More from Variety Jessel Taank Signs With WME (EXCLUSIVE) Charly Clive and Ellen Robertson Sign With WME (EXCLUSIVE) Noah Hawley Signs With WME Johnson won five consecutive NASCAR Cup Series titles between 2006 and 2010 and is recognized as one of the most decorated drivers in motorsports history. His seven overall NASCAR Cup wins are tied for the most-ever won by a driver. He has accumulated 83 career wins, including two Daytona 500 victories. Until 2019, Johnson was the only driver to have qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs every single year since the event launched in 2004. He holds the record for the most consecutive and total playoff appearances. He has made appearances in films and TV series including 'Herbie: Fully Loaded,' 'Las Vegas' and 'Superstore.' He once voiced an animated lobster named Jimmie on the animated kids' program 'Bubble Guppies,' and appeared in the music video for the Avett Brothers' song 'Ain't No Man.' He currently drives on a part-time basis the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club, in which he holds an ownership stake. WME will also provide strategic representation for the racing entity. Johnson is a lifelong racer, having gotten his start with motorcycles when he was just a child. He began to compete in off-road series, then stock-car races before eventually moving on to some of NASCAR's biggest events. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz
NBC Sports
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
How the longest night preceded Ross Chastain winning NASCAR's longest race
CONCORD, N.C. — Amid the screaming on the radio after he won the Coca-Cola 600, Ross Chastain had a message for his team. 'Thank you for working all damn night,' he said. The longest race of the NASCAR Cup season was preceded by one of the longest nights of the year for Chastain's team after he crashed his primary car in practice Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 'This group of guys that I've got is relentless,' crew chief Phil Surgen said. 'There was no question that everybody was going to give every bit of effort they had. … We had shop guys that were at concerts and ball games and everything that just dropped what they were doing, came to the shop.' About 33 hours after a tire blew and sent Chastain's car into the wall in practice, he celebrated his first Coca-Cola 600 victory with a burnout, reverse victory lap, watermelon smash and a trip into the stands to share some of that watermelon with fans. Nate Ryan, Originally, the plan was to fix the car Chastain wrecked. Teams can't go to a backup car unless NASCAR allows it. As more damage was uncovered in the car, NASCAR approved the team to go to a backup. Normally, teams would have a backup car at the track but with most of the race shops near Charlotte Motor Speedway — Trackhouse Racing is 6.8 miles away — those vehicles were at the race shops. The team loaded Chastain's wrecked car into a hauler at the track to go to the shop. Trackhouse team members followed and began to convert what was to have been the backup car for this weekend's race at Nashville into Chastain's car for Charlotte. The team had to transfer the engine from primary car to what Chastain would race. Work was need to on the interior of the car. They changed the transaxle. Adjustments to the suspension were made. The team had to scale the car to make sure it was within NASCAR's tolerances. The car had to be wrapped with all the sponsor logos to match the primary car. Dustin Long, Chastain was part of the radio broadcast for Saturday's Xfinity race, and returned to the shop after that race. He stayed until about 10 p.m. before he was told to leave and rest for 600 miles of racing the next day. Team members were there until about 2:30 a.m. and returned at 5:30 a.m. to continue working on the car. It wasn't until about 12:30 p.m. that the team finished the car and loaded into a hauler to transport to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Team members went to the track and sent the car went through inspection there The garage opened at 2 p.m. for crew members and teams could begin to do certain pre-race checks with the car. Once that was done and car was pushed to the grid on pit road, car chief David Fero had a few moments to himself. 'I just sat outside (the team's hauler) on a cooler and took a moment for myself in silence,' he said. 'Just needed to get my thoughts together. You build a car in that time frame, you're exhausted. 'There's a lot of components. We're pretty disciplined when it comes to checklists and processes and all of that, but in that moment, sometimes you kind of push that aside and just do what has to be done. 'An hour before the race you're just sitting there, kind of doing a mental checklist in your head. You're thinking about the engine, you're thinking about the floor, you're thinking about the rear end, everyone else and just taking a moment to be ready for the race because it's long, 600 miles. It can be really grueling.' As he stood in victory lane next to the car, Fero admitted: 'I'm slightly exhausted right now because I haven't slept.' While each of Trackhouse Racing's other eight Cup wins carry significance for various reasons, Sunday's was special to team owner Justin Marks for what the team overcame to win its first Cup crown jewel event. 'I stood in front of everybody at this organization the first day that I took ownership of it back at the end of 2021, and I said, you know, We have everything that we need to be successful here,' Marks said. 'We just have to work together. We have to believe in each other, and we have to fundamentally believe that we can do it, that we can go win big races and contend for championships. If we support each other and go the extra mile and do whatever it takes, then we can get there. 'I think this weekend was a beautiful expression of that, and I am so … unbelievably proud of everybody because what they did this weekend was very, very, very difficult. It was truly a team win.' Relive a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Indianapolis Star
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'I don't really think it's worth it': Why Kyle Larson may not do the Indy 500-NASCAR double
Is the double done? Kyle Larson thinks it might be. The NASCAR Cup star who is known for his willingness to try almost anything with four wheels and an engine said Sunday night that competing the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same might be a feat that is even beyond him. The 32-year-old drove in both Sunday, crashing out of both, finishing 27th at Indy (109 of 200 laps completed) and 37th in Charlotte, North Carolina (245 of 400 laps completed). After exiting the Cup race, he said the tight race day window for attempting 1,100 miles of racing is daunting. 'I don't know. It's so fresh right now I don't really have a good answer for you. The double is just a tough undertaking," he said, according to NBC Sports. "The window of time is too tight. Even if I didn't wreck, I don't think I would have made it here on time and probably would have had to end that race short anyways. 'So I don't really think it's worth it. But I would love to run the Indy 500 again. Just doing the double I think is just logistically too tough.' He's the champ: How Alex Palou losing the 2021 Indy 500 led to his 2025 win Even with no weather issues, completing both is tough. The scheduled green flag for the Indy 500 is 12:45 p.m. ET. However, a brief shower delayed the start of the race by about 45 minutes. The race, if it goes the scheduled 200 laps, takes about 3 hours. After that race, a driver takes a helicopter from Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the Indianapolis International Airport to catch a one-hour flight to Charlotte. Then there's transportation from that airport to Charlotte Motor Speedway for driver introductions and a 6 p.m. green flag for the Coca-Cola 600. Larson raced at Indy in 2024, finishing 18th after a pit-road speeding penalty dropped him from fifth place. However, a 4-hour rain delay in Indianapolis made him late for Charlotte. The Cup race had already begun and, when he got there, rain had stopped that race, so he never got in the car.
