Motorsports

Late charge propels Ross Chastain to victory in Coca-Cola 600 – Speedway Digest

Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter. Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Byron led 283 […]

Published

1 month ago

May 27, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Welcome to the party, Ross Chastain—and to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, for that matter.

Starting from the rear of the field in a backup car his team needed all night to prepare, Chastain ran down the dominant car of William Byron to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Byron led 283 of 400 laps and swept the first three stages of NASCAR’s longest race. Chastain led the final six after diving below Byron’s Chevrolet entering Turn 1 on Lap 395 and sliding up in Turn 2 to clear Byron off the corner.

Chastain crossed the finish line 0.673 seconds ahead of the Hendrick Motorsports driver to win for the first time this season, the first time at Charlotte and the sixth time in his career.

It was a far cry from Saturday’s practice, when Chastain blew a tire on his No. 1 Chevrolet and crashed into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4, ultimately forcing his Trackhouse Racing team to build a backup car.

Unable to make a qualifying run, Chastain took the green flag in 40th and spent the rest of the race methodically working his way toward the front.

Chastain had nothing but admiration for his Trackhouse organization.

“When I left the shop last night, I went over and sat in this car for the first time,” Chastain said. “It was about 10 o’clock when I left. They worked until 2:30. They were back at 5:30 this morning. Most of them drive 30, 45 minutes home. A little shower, I think.

…

“I don’t even know if they slept. Back there at 5:30. They get this thing ready, and that’s the dedication it takes from Trackhouse. There were people there that had their Saturdays off yesterday, and they came in.

“To drive on that final run in the (Coke) 600 and pass two cars that had been way better all night … (Crew chief) Phil Surgen wanted me to pit two laps earlier (in the final stage). I went two laps longer (to Lap 350) just out of a little bit of confusion. Man, that paid off at the end. These Goodyear Eagles held on longer because they were a little bit fresher.

“Holy cow, we just won the 600!”

Winner of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte, Byron was understandably disappointed at his failure to complete the sweep.

“He was catching me, and I was trying to just defend,” Byron said of the decisive final run. “I was getting a little bit tight. Then the scenario there with the cars we were around (Hamlin after his unscheduled stop and Joey Logano), it was tough.

“So, yeah, he got a run on me and was able to get to the bottom and clear me off of (Turn) 2. Disappointing just to lead that many laps and such a great effort by our whole team. Yeah, I guess just could have anticipated that last run a little better. I ran in dirty air for a long time and heated my tires up. Then we lost a chunk of time, and the 45 (Tyler Reddick) about crashed in front of us. Yeah, sucks.

“We’ll just keep going and keep trying to put races together like that.”

Chastain, however, wasn’t a factor for the lead as Byron and Denny Hamlin battled for the top spot in a thrilling third stage that saw them swap the lead nine times.

After the halfway break, when the cars stopped on pit road to honor America’s fallen heroes with a moment of silence, Byron was not as dominant as he had been in the first two stages. Hamlin hounded him mercilessly until Zane Smith spun off Turn 2 to cause the fifth caution on Lap 237.

A five-car wreck in Turn 4 nine laps later eliminated the Ford of Ryan Blaney and the Chevrolets of Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez. Hamlin ran down Byron after the subsequent restart and passed him for the lead on Lap 262.

Stronger on the long run, however, Byron reclaimed the top spot on Lap 291 and held off Hamlin and Carson Hocevar to complete a sweep of the first three stages. Hocevar was a contender for at least a top-five finish until an engine failure ended his race after 307 laps.

Hamlin continued to challenge in the final 100 laps, until a mistake on pit road foiled his winning chances. During the final green-flag pit stop on Lap 348 Hamlin’s crew failed to get the second can of fuel in the car, and Hamlin bowed out of contention with an unplanned pit stop on Lap 388.

“I’m not a pit guy, but I tried to do everything I could for the National Debt Relief Toyota team,” Hamlin said. “We had a great car, and it was fun battling up front. It was a heck of a battle there.

“I would have liked to see it through, but unfortunately, just didn’t get enough gas in it and had to come back in.”

Pole winner Chase Briscoe overcame a tire violation on his first pit stop to finish third. AJ Allmendinger ran fourth and Brad Keselowski came home fifth, posting his first top-10 result of the season.

Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.

It’s a good thing Larson has a self-professed short memory, because Sunday was a day to forget for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. After spinning in Takuma Sato’s wake on Lap 92 of the Indianapolis 500 and falling out of the race, Larson flew to Charlotte to start on the front row for the Coke 600.

For a short while, Larson’s fortunes improved. He passed Byron for the lead on Lap 9 and stayed out front for 33 circuits. During that run, however, Larson slapped the outside wall. On Lap 42, he spun off Turn 4 and slid sideways through the turf in the tri-oval

“The toe might be barely off,” Larson radioed to crew chief Cliff Daniels. “I hit the wall pretty hard, and not square. Check it please.”

The toe (tire angle) was more than barely off, and repeated pit stops couldn’t make it right. Larson’s forgettable day ended in the five-car accident on Lap 246 when the spinning car of Daniel Suarez applied the coup de grace to the suspension of Larson’s Chevrolet.

“Just too many mistakes on my end tonight, and it got me behind,” Larson said after a trip to the infield care center. “I got loose in (while) leading early and smacked the wall and just kind of got us behind, but I thought our team got the car back in better shape there.

“I hate the way that the day went. I wish I could just reset and try again tomorrow.”

Jimmie Johnson’s 700th Cup Series start came to an end just as suddenly. In Turn 4 on Lap 112, Johnson’s No. 84 Toyota broke loose and collected the cars of Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch, the Xfinity Series phenom who was making his first Cup start on an oval track.

Johnson retired from the race in 40th. Zilisch persevered to come home 23rd.

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Motorsports

Shocking restart pileup collects ten NASCAR Xfinity cars after weather delay

After almost 90 minutes of waiting due to lightning in the area, the NASCAR Xfinity race finally got underway with five laps left in the first stage. Unfortunately, that lengthy delay made some drivers antsy and they didn’t make it half-a-lap into the restart before a massive crash broke out. Advertisement Jesse Love tried to […]

Published

2 minutes ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

After almost 90 minutes of waiting due to lightning in the area, the NASCAR Xfinity race finally got underway with five laps left in the first stage.

Unfortunately, that lengthy delay made some drivers antsy and they didn’t make it half-a-lap into the restart before a massive crash broke out.

Jesse Love tried to make an aggressive move to the outside in an attempt to shuffle out Sam Mayer and take the race lead. However, Mayer quickly defended the position and Love tried to get back in line, but Nick Sanchez was already there.

Love went spinning in the middle of the pack, igniting a massive crash that damaged at least ten cars. Along with Love, the following drivers were also involved: Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, Justin Allgaier, Katherine Legge, Jeb Burton, Christian Eckes, Anthony Alfredo, Patrick Staropoli.

Of those involved in the wreck, six were unable to continue, but all were checked and released from the infield care center. Surprisingly, Love remained on the lead lap and competitive in his wounded No. 2 RCR Chevrolet.

Creed, who started the race from pole position, had dominated the event until the red flag for weather. He was going to be leading when the race resumed, but chose to pit early. That decision put him deep in the pack and ultimately ended his night as he got swept up in the melee.

“Just frustrated,” said Creed after being released from the infield care center. “I feel like I’ve lost count on how many times we’ve been crashed this year … felt like we had a car capable of winning tonight … they started crashing down the backstretch and I checked up, thought I missed it completely — I was just trying to creep through there, and the #8 [Smith], I don’t know if he didn’t have brakes or just decided not to lock it down, but it just got me and I guess I wasn’t heads up enough to be watching him. Just bummed for my team.”

Taylor Gray went on to win the stage under caution.

Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Connor Zilisch, JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Carson Kapvil, JR Motorsports Chevrolet

Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Sheldon Creed, Haas Factory Team Ford

Krista Jasso / Getty Images

Motorsports

Best Porsche starts the 24 Hours of Spa from row five — PorscheSport

Comments on Superpole Joel Sturm (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): “I managed a pretty good lap – I don’t think more would have been possible. With pole position in the Gold Cup, we’ve achieved our minimum goal, and we’re also starting as the best Porsche. In terms of performance, however, we are still a bit […]

Published

19 minutes ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Comments on Superpole

Joel Sturm (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): “I managed a pretty good lap – I don’t think more would have been possible. With pole position in the Gold Cup, we’ve achieved our minimum goal, and we’re also starting as the best Porsche. In terms of performance, however, we are still a bit lacking compared to the competition. Let’s see how it goes for us in the race.”

Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #22): “We were hoping for a place in the top 10, but to start the biggest GT3 race in the world from eleventh position is not a bad starting position either. Unfortunately, not everything worked perfectly for us in Superpole. But we have a good car and still a warm-up ahead of us in which we can make the final fine-tuning.”

Patric Niederhauser (Porsche 911 GT3 R #96): “I always think it’s cool when I get to drive the Superpole here at Spa. Our 911 GT3 R worked very well and I managed two good laps. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the front, but the race is long – I’m looking forward to it.”

Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 911 GT3 R #18): “This session didn’t go well for us because of the red flag – the interruption came in the middle of my second fast lap. After that, I had to try again with the same tyres. Of course, this is suboptimal, but that’s the rules. At the end of the day, it doesn’t make much difference, because the race lasts twice around the clock. Nevertheless, there is still a little work ahead of us for tomorrow.”

Results Superpole session

1st (1st Pro) Loake/Kirchhöfer/Goethe (GBR/CHE/DEU), McLaren #59, 2m 15.113s
2nd (2nd Pro) Stolz/Gounon/Schiller (DEU/AND/DEU), Mercedes-AMG #17, 2m 15.527s
3rd (3rd Pro) Vanthoor/Van der Linde/Wittmann (BEL/ZAF/DEU), BMW #31, 2m 15.713s
9th (1st GC) Ineichen/Heinemann/Sturm (CHE/DEU/DEU), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, 2m 16.127s
11th (10th Pro) Bachler/Güven/Heinrich (AUT/TUR/DEU), Schumacher CLRT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #22, 2m 16.214s
15th (13th Pro) Müller/ Niederhauser/Picariello (DEU/CHE/BEL), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #96, 2m 16.668s
17th (15th Pro) Buus/Campbell/Jaminet (DNK/AUS/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #18, 2m 17.068s

The other grid positions (result of the qualifying on Thursday)

22nd (3rd GC) Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Wright Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, 2m 18.428s
23rd (19th Pro) Lietz/Malykhin/Preining (AUT/GBR/AUT), Pure Rxcing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #911, 2m 18.443s
45th (8th BC) Rindone/Kolb/Feller/Pera (FRA/DEU/CHE/ITA), Lionspeed GP, Porsche 911 GT3 R #80, 2m 21.433s
46th (6th SC) Rappange/Al Rifai/Pieris/Baud (NLD/ARE/LKA/FRA), Dinamic GT, Porsche 911 GT3 R #54, 2m 21.439s
57th (13th BC) Schuring/Au/Hartog/Rump (NLD/HKG/NLD/EST), Rutronik Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R #97, 2m 22.148s
58th (14th BC) Bohn/A. Renauer/R. Renauer/Jefferies (DEU/DEU/DEU/ZWE), Herberth Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #91, 2m 22.176s
61st (1st PAM) Abramczyk/Detry/Duffieux/Yuan (FRA/BEL/BEL/CHN), AV Racing by Car Collection Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R #29, 2m 22.588s

Pro = Pro class; PAM = Pro-Am Cup; GC = Gold Cup; SC = Silver Cup; BC = Bronze Cup

All results under https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/watch-live

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Motorsports

Toyota Is Leaving NHRA, But GR Supras Will Remain in Series in 2026

This past December, Toyota announced that it was leaving the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at the end of the 2025 season. The Toyota GR Supra Funny Cars, however, will live on for at least another season in the Funny Car category, according to Chad Head, general manager at Kalitta Motorsports. “They’re obviously going […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

This past December, Toyota announced that it was leaving the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series at the end of the 2025 season.

The Toyota GR Supra Funny Cars, however, will live on for at least another season in the Funny Car category, according to Chad Head, general manager at Kalitta Motorsports.

“They’re obviously going to leave the sport,” Head said. “We’re going to continue to run the Toyota body, and we’re going to continue to run the branding on the body in support of everything they’ve done for us over the years. We’re going to stay close and hopefully get them back someday.”

Toyota has been in NHRA since 2002 and have collected 20 championships and more than 200 victories. This year, Ron Capps (Ron Capps Motorsports) and J.R. Todd (Kalitta Motorsports) are driving the Toyota GR Supra full-time in the Funny Car category.

auto: jun 07 super grip nhra thunder valley nationals — J.R. Todd drives the GR Supra Funny Car for Kalitta Motorsports. Icon Sportswire – Getty Images

Despite the breakup, a relationship will continue.

“They’ve done so much for us,” Head said. “How they’re exiting and how they’re supporting us while they leave is unheard of. So we’re going to run the Toyota body next year. You’ve never seen people getting treated the way Toyota is treating them. It’s unheard of.”

The decision to keep the Toyota alive in Funny Car next year wasn’t just about a friendly tip of the hat to the manufacturer. There’s a bit of necessity in there, too. There’s also going to be a void.

“We’re losing support,” Head said. “We’re losing technical support. I think they’re still going to help us out where they can.”

Head added that there have been discussions with other manufacturers to replace Toyota.

“There are, but right now we’re sitting here in June and we’ve got a lot of Toyota Supras and we’re getting two more from them next year,” Head said. “Where we are right now, it’s best for our company to stay with Toyotas next year. We’ve got the data, we’ve got all the work we’ve put into them.

“That’s not to say that someday another manufacturer might not come along, but right now we’re going to stay with Toyota.”

Replacing the financial support that Toyota provides is another story.

“There’s a pretty good contingency program for when we win races, win championships,” Head said. “We’ve got to find some new partners.”

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Motorsports

NASCAR Channel, FloSports to Simulcast 7 Live EventsPerformance Racing Industry

NASCAR and FloSports will simulcast seven live events on the NASCAR Channel and FloRacing in 2025. Scheduled simulcast events: June 30 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars) July 1 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars) July 11 – ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 at Sonoma […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NASCAR and FloSports will simulcast seven live events on the NASCAR Channel and FloRacing in 2025.

Scheduled simulcast events:

June 30 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars)
July 1 – Cookout Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway (INEX US Legend Cars)
July 11 – ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway
August 23 – Season Finale at Bowman Gray Stadium
September 27 – ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway
October 12 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
December 5 – Snowball Derby Qualifying Day at Five Flags Speedway

The NASCAR Channel provides 24/7 programming and content to fans for free. It airs classic races, delayed broadcasts of this season’s races, select live coverage of races and events, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive and NASCAR Studios original content and video podcasts. It is available on Tubi, Xumo Play, Samsung TV Plus and Prime Video. No subscription or registration is needed.

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Motorsports

IMSA star Jordan Taylor impresses during debut NASCAR Truck Series practice at Lime Rock Park

This weekend, IMSA star Jordan Taylor is making his NASCAR Truck Series debut at the wonderful Lime Rock Park. Taylor knows the track well from his sports car endeavors, but has never driven one of these trucks in the past. Of course, Jordan Taylor has raced in the Cup Series before. He took over the […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Of course, Jordan Taylor has raced in the Cup Series before. He took over the No. 9 car for Chase Elliott while the NASCAR driver was injured in 2023. Taylor then made a couple of Xfinity Series starts with Kaulig Racing that season. This is his first NASCAR race since then.

Despite being new, Taylor got the hang of things quickly at Lime Rock. He was the fastest in practice.

“Yeah, I mean I knew I was going to have a good truck, you know, coming with Spire Motorsports, they’ve been up front all year,” Taylor said after practice. “So, I knew it was going to be down to me to kind of figure it out and learn it because the truck and equipment’s there. But yeah, getting up to speed was interesting, obviously, my first time in a truck. I know the track well, but the truck is obviously a different animal from what I’m used to here.

“It went well. We did a qual [qualifying] run to kind of get an idea for tomorrow, just because every little hundredth of a second I think around here is going to matter for track position, and I think it’s going to be tough to pass. So, the higher up we start the better chance we’re going to have for tomorrow. But yeah, happy with how we started, for sure.”

Wayne Taylor Racing is his usual team in IMSA. WTR is also owned by TWG Motorsports, which owns Spire Motorsports. There is an entire motorsports ecosystem now through TWG that touches IMSA, NASCAR, IndyCar, and soon, F1.

Jordan Taylor could very well win the Truck Series race. Lime Rock Park is a new track for many of these drivers. But he has tough competition in Corey Heim and maybe even another part-time driver.

Jordan Taylor, Brent Crews top practice at Lime Rock Park

Will it be the IMSA star, Jordan Taylor or the teenage phenom, Brent Crews? Crews, still not old enough to race on anything but road courses and ovals smaller than 1.25 miles in length, was second fastest in practice today at Lime Rock.

Crews is good enough to win any race. He is one of these new-school drivers that has and can drive and win in whatever you put him in. Dirt racing, stock cars, sports cars, it doesn’t matter. Crews was fastest in practice until Taylor ran his qualifying simulation. The two were separated by 0.081 seconds.

It won’t be until March 30 of next year that Crews is able to run all of the big tracks. The 17-year-old driver has been racing in Trans-Am, CARS Tour, ARCA, NASCAR, and sprint cars. Earlier this year, Crews won a Golden Driller at the Tulsa Shootout in Stock Non-Wing.

So, who will it be? Jordan Taylor, Brent Crews, or one of the Truck Series regulars like Corey Heim? Tomorrow we will find out at Lime Rock Park.

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Motorsports

NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Atlanta

Joey Logano took the pole position for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series event at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta. Logano won the pole in a tiebreaker with Josh Berry, who turned the exact same lap time as Logano in the lightning-delayed session, which was shortened to one round. Logano’s pole-winning run was a 30.979-second (178.960 mph) […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 28, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Logano’s pole-winning run was a 30.979-second (178.960 mph) lap time around the 1.54-mile speedway in Hampton, GA. Ryan Blaney will start third, while Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-five qualifiers for the race.

Here is the official starting lineup for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway. Race 18 of 36.

Pos	Car	Driver	Lap time	Speed
1	22	Joey Logano	30.979	178.960
2	21	Josh Berry	30.979	178.960
3	12	Ryan Blaney	30.983	178.937
4	2	Austin Cindric	31.037	178.626
5	60	Ryan Preece	31.130	178.092
6	6	Brad Keselowski	31.153	177.960
7	41	Cole Custer	31.155	177.949
8	38	Zane Smith	31.160	177.920
9	48	Alex Bowman	31.203	177.675
10	19	Chase Briscoe	31.210	177.635
11	5	Kyle Larson	31.237	177.482
12	3	Austin Dillon	31.242	177.453
13	17	Chris Buescher	31.247	177.425
14	10	Ty Dillon	31.265	177.323
15	9	Chase Elliott	31.284	177.215
16	54	Ty Gibbs	31.298	177.136
17	34	Todd Gilliland	31.302	177.113
18	24	William Byron	31.310	177.068
19	42	John Hunter Nemechek	31.315	177.040
20	35	Riley Herbst #	31.315	177.040
21	16	AJ Allmendinger	31.329	176.961
22	7	Justin Haley	31.329	176.961
23	45	Tyler Reddick	31.331	176.949
24	23	Bubba Wallace	31.353	176.825
25	01	Corey LaJoie * (i)	31.356	176.808
26	43	Erik Jones	31.358	176.797
27	4	Noah Gragson	31.376	176.696
28	20	Christopher Bell	31.405	176.532
29	8	Kyle Busch	31.407	176.521
30	77	Carson Hocevar	31.409	176.510
31	99	Daniel Suarez	31.446	176.302
32	71	Michael McDowell	31.462	176.213
33	11	Denny Hamlin	31.463	176.207
34	1	Ross Chastain	31.484	176.089
35	88	Shane van Gisbergen #	31.485	176.084
36	87	Connor Zilisch * (i)	31.500	176.000
37	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	31.537	175.794
38	78	BJ McLeod * (i)	31.550	175.721
39	51	Cody Ware	31.564	175.643
40	66	David Starr * (i)	34.113	162.519