RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion – POLE-WINNING INTERVIEW -- “It’ll be nice to lead the field to green here. The Fifth Third guys worked really, really hard on these cars. Like I said earlier, Jimmy Fennig has done a great job on these speedway cars. This is cool. Doug Yates builds awesome horsepower. With his dad, Robert, not doing as well as we would like, it would be cool to dedicate this one to him and all the hard work that the engine shop does. Man, it’s a cool way to start the weekend. I’m ready to get to Sunday.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a front row starting position for the GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway with a second-place qualifying effort in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS. Earnhardt Jr. navigated the 2.66-mile track with a final round lap of 190.780 mph.
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS – Qualified 2nd - NOT QUITE ENOUGH, BUT PRETTY GOOD SPEED FOR YOU IN THIS QUALIFYING SESSION: “Yeah, I’m pretty happy. Great lap by (Ricky) Stenhouse and the Roush guys they did a really good job today. Thrilled with our car, good speed and it would have been nice to get a pole. Probably could have sat down and talked to Rick (Hendrick) about running the Clash or something, but let’s see if we can’t try to get another one later on this year.”
RYAN REED – No. 16 Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang – “I’m fine. The racing is fun. We had a really fast car, so that made the racing a lot more fun for us, but with this low downforce you’re really at other people’s mercy on how they push you."
Ryan Reed was poised to close out stage two at Talladega Superspeedway with a top-five finish when contact from behind sent him into the outside wall. Reed started the race 11th, avoided a multi-car wreck in stage one, then was tapped and spun by a fellow competitor just before stage two concluded. The No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford had been one of the fastest cars in the race, but was damaged beyond repair; leaving Reed scored 29th.
Recap: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang team started eighth and finished third in Saturday afternoon’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano, regarded as one of the best restrictor plate racers in NASCAR, wasted no time maneuvering the No. 22 Mustang into the top-five and battled his way to the front of the field by lap 17.
Sunday’s GEICO 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway will be an emotional one for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his loyal race fans.
Before traveling to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 17 Fifth Third Ford, and members of his team helped pack 1,300 backpacks for hungry kids at Second Harvest Food Bank Metrolina.
ON RAISING MONEY FOR THE NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL BY SELLING SPACES TO FANS S THEY CAN HAVE THEIR NAMES ON THE NO. 88 CHEVY SS FOR THE RACE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY: “Yeah, Nationwide put together a real cool program for the car we are going to race in Kentucky where they sold the hood off to the race fans to put their name on it and sold it out in 24 hours, so they found room for more names and sold that out in another 24 hours and raised $81,000 really quick."
Collaboration with HSR on Track November 11 - 15 at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) at the 12th Running of America's Premier Vintage and Historic 24 Hour Race
With first-time events, highly-anticipated returns to facilities and an increase of popular double-divisional events, the NHRA is excited to announce its 2027 schedule in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.
Crew Chief Stephen Doran will return to Spire Motorsports following the completion of the 2026 season to the lead efforts of the team’s No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and 2021 Daytona 500 Champion Michael McDowell.
Josh Berry and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang, featuring a special hood decal commemorating Motorcraft’s 25-year partnership with Wood Brothers Racing
Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang Dark Horse quickly showed tremendous pace around the 1.5-mile oval, moving from the ninth starting spot to sixth in a few laps.
Rental prices, deposit requirements and insurance terms vary enormously between companies, and the cheapest headline rate often hides a large security hold or limited cover.
