NASCAR Cup Series

Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team needed a strong performance at Kansas Speedway last weekend to advance to Round 3 of the NASCAR Playoffs and got it. They’ll need another one Sunday in the First Data 500 at Martinsville to keep their championship hopes alive.

Darrell Wallace Jr. will drive the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford in 2018, the team announced on Wednesday via a video on Twitter.

During his legendary career, Richard Petty won 200 NASCAR races behind the wheel of the famous No. 43 car. He made history time and time again and now his team is doing it again with one of the most important decisions in Richard Petty Motorsports history.

In one of the organization's most anticipated moments in its history, Richard Petty Motorsports announced today Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. as the new driver of the No. 43 made famous by team co-owner, "The King" Richard Petty. Wallace, 24, will compete full-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and for the Sunoco Rookie of The Year beginning at the 2018 Daytona 500.

Soon after the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ champion is crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup will head to Las Vegas as NASCAR hosts its annual Champion’s Week festivities. Fans will gather in Las Vegas for events honoring the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Playoff Drivers, Sunoco Rookie of the Year and other season-ending award recipients.

Even with a cushion of banked playoff bonus points, Martin Truex Jr. doesn’t buy into predictions by pundits that he is a lock to be one of the final four drivers who will compete for the NASCAR Cup Series championship Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Martinsville this weekend should be a lot of fun. We’ve got the Grey Ghost – I appreciate everybody voting for that paint scheme so I can run it. I didn’t get to drive that car last year and I love that car, so I may have swayed the vote because I went on social media and said, 'That’s the one I’d love to run.’ I’m excited to get the opportunity to drive that car this weekend. Martinsville is a great track for us. I love the short tracks and short-track racing.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing the Grey Ghost scheme at Martinsville

Sundays First Data 5oo at Martinsville Speedway will kick off the Round of 8 this weekend. Most of the eight drivers remaining in the Playoffs have had wins in the past or good finishes. Sunday's race will be crucial because if any of the eight Playoff drivers win the event, they will automatically punch a ticket to the championship-deciding race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bayne makes his seventh career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. In six previous starts at the famed Virginia short track, Bayne has recorded a best finish of 13th in the spring 2017 event.

Stenhouse has nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Martinsville with an average starting position of 24.0.