Heading into the final race of the regular season, Chevrolet currently has five drivers locked into Playoff positions on the strength of wins within the regular 26-race season. Those drivers are: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Austin Dillon.
Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford Fusion, heads into this weekend’s Monster Energy Cup Series (MENCS) regular season finale at Richmond Raceway knowing that a win will get the Knoxville, Tenn. native into the opening round of the Playoffs next weekend in Chicago.
Crew chief Mike Wheeler was fined $50,000 and suspended for two races, the team was assessed with the loss of 25 owner points and 25 driver points, and Denny Hamlin’s first-place finish was ruled encumbered per Section 12.10. JGR will not appeal the penalty and Chris Gabehart (the crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 XFINITY Series team) will be on the pit box for the No. 11 team at Richmond, according to a team spokesperson.
Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team punched their postseason ticket back in June at Pocono so are not among the majority of drivers and teams on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit who must win Saturday night at Richmond Raceway to guarantee their place in the NASCAR Playoffs that start next week at Chicagoland Speedway.
The Playoffs are almost here as NASCAR concludes its regular season with Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Roush Fenway Racing returns to Richmond Raceway for the second time in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) season, a track that has seen a Roush Fenway Ford visit victory lane on 15 previous occasions across NASCAR’s three major touring series.
No. 43 Smithfield Ford Team Finished Ninth in the Spring Race
Aric Almirola had a fast car this past spring at Richmond International Raceway, where...
Richmond Review: Toyota Cup drivers have had success in the last two Richmond fall races, capturing wins in 2015 (Matt Kenseth) and 2016 (Hamlin), while combining to lead 92 percent of total laps run.
Darlington Recap: Hamlin qualified ninth for Sunday’s “Throwback Weekend” race at Darlington, making his way to the front of the field and leading four times for 124 laps during the 367-lap event to earn his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the 2017 season. Despite an on-track blunder that caused Hamlin to miss the entrance of pit road for his final green-flag stop of the night, a quick recovery and Crew Chief Mike Wheeler’s decision to pit late at the end of the final segment propelled Hamlin and the #11 to victory lane and a “Too Tough To Tame” sweep. Following Sunday’s race, Hamlin remains in fifth in the overall NASCAR standings.
The late two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, is the 21st competitor to be named Most Popular Driver in the Cup division and the first to posthumously receive the title since Dale Earnhardt in 2001.
Elite Motorsports arrives at the historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip this weekend for the 2026 season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals armed with momentum and race-winning consistency.
