NASCAR Cup Series

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will kick off Round 3 of the Playoffs this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. There are a manufacturer-best five Ford drivers competing in the Round of 8 on the Cup side while ThorSport’s Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are in the Truck Series Round of 6. Here’s a look at the Ford picture going into this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr. doesn’t sugarcoat his feelings about what the team needs to accomplish in the upcoming three-race Round of 8 playoffs at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Roush Fenway Racing has announced that veteran crew chief Scott Graves will rejoin the team, leading its No. 6 NASCAR Cup Series team with newcomer driver Ryan Newman in 2019. 

It might have been Kansas, but the action was a whole lot like a Las Vegas slot machine. Gold bar. Gold bar. Grapes. Dammit! Take Kevin Harvick, for example. He was second best on the opening stage. He was the best in the second stage. He was dominating the third stage, at least until he went speeding on pit road. Dammit!

1. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 2nd at Kansas and cruised into Round 3 of the NASCAR playoffs. "I basically just had to avoid disaster at Kansas," Busch said. "And that means I just had to keep my mouth shut." Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

An interview with: CHASE ELLIOTT - THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

An interview with: ALAN GUSTAFSON - THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by our race winning crew chief, Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 Mountain Dew Chevrolet.

After struggling for two-thirds of the race and bouncing in and out of the playoff transfer spot, Martin Truex Jr. and his Furniture Row Racing team dug deep to pull off a fifth-place finish and secure enough points to advance to the Round of 8.

Camry driver Kyle Busch (second) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway.

Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 Dow Chevrolet Team Earn Hard-Fought 11th-Place Finish at Kansas Speedway "I'll be honest. I didn't feel like we had a very good Dow Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 all weekend, so I am proud of this team and our 11th-place finish at Kansas Speedway today."