NASCAR Cup Series

Earlier this week, Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion, learned he would not return to drive the 43 car in 2018 and his sponsor, Smithfield was also leaving Richard Petty Motorsports following the conclusion of this season. Almirola spoke to media members about this week’s news following Cup practice at Chicagoland Speedway Friday.

Kyle Busch topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Chicagoland Speedway. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.325 and a speed of 184.143 mph.

Michael McDowell is looking to make a statement at Chicagoland Speedway for the first race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) playoffs.

As Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team heads to Chicagoland Speedway to kick off their first-ever appearance in NASCAR’s playoffs, team co-owner Eddie Wood is hoping for a strong run over the final 10 races. But foremost on his mind at this point is that he’s simply glad to be among the elite 16 teams that will begin the run to the championship.

Hamlin notched his first career win at the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, IL, in 2015 and has scored a total of five top-10 finishes in 11 starts at the Windy City track, including a sixth-place finish during last year’s visit to Chicagoland. Hamlin is in the NASCAR Playoffs for the 11th time in his 12th full season driving the No. 11 machine.

Win and automatically advance to the next round. There are four rounds, each consisting of three races. Four drivers will be eliminated at the end of each round leaving four contenders to battle for the championship crown at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

NASCAR heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend as the Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs begin with the Round of 16. For the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series, it’s the last race of the regular season.

Change can be a good thing. Sometimes it is, but other times it is a simple reminder that we are getting older and, like disco, what was popular yesterday might not be tomorrow.

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Playoff Media Day. Full Transcript: TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHANCES IN THE PLAYOFFS: “I think our chances are solid. We have nothing to lose in my mindset in where we are at as far as the points go. Last year we made some noise and made it to the second round, and missed the third round by one point. I kicked myself over that point but I learned from it experience-wise. I know how aggressive I need to be in those first couple of races to put ourselves in a little better position for the third race. They are three-race seasons and you have to take them as that and get as much as you can out of them.”

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media during NASCAR’s Playoff Media Day: DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What’s your impressions about the whole pit crew change with Kyle Busch and Daniel Suárez? “No, our pit crew's pretty good and solid. I think you always try to put the best people out there that you possibly can. I think that the 18 is a good pit crew, but I think they struggled with consistency like the 19 has had, so they made a change for that reason.”