NASCAR Cup Series

By Kenny Bruce | NASCAR.com Smithfield Foods, the primary team sponsor for the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford with driver Aric Almirola, will not return to the...

With a list of movie and TV credits to his name, actor Jay Hernandez is adding one more credit to the list – Grand Marshal of the Hollywood Casino 400.  On Oct. 22, he will be saying the most famous words in motorsports “Drivers, start your engines” for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race.

Who won? -- That was the one and only question the 60th annual summer event at Richmond had to answer. Who would win it? Three drivers entered had won it twice before, one already had the hat trick. All 13 with multiple wins there during their career are in or will be in conversations regarding the Hall of Fame.

1. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex won Stage 2 at Richmond was on his way to his fifth win of the year before a late caution flipped his fate. Kyle Larson beat Truex out of the pits and pulled away on the restart, while Truex tangled with Denny Hamlin and crashed. Truex finished 20th.

The Wood Brothers will be making their NASCAR Playoff debut this weekend when Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion hits the track at Chicagoland Speedway.  Co-owners Eddie and Len Wood, along with crew chief Jeremy Bullins, participated in a conference call today to talk about the final 10 weeks of the season and their hopes of winning a championship.

RICHMOND, Va. -- An ambulance that came to a stop at the entrance of pit road during the fifth caution of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway ended the night of Matt Kenseth.

With a mediocre 18th-place finish at Richmond Raceway in the rear-view mirror, Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane team head to Chicagoland Speedway ninth in the standings as the 10-race Monster Energy Cup playoffs begin.

A late-race caution spoiled a dominating performance by Martin Truex Jr., who led a race high of 198 laps and enjoyed a comfortable lead with three laps remaining in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Quote: “We had a really fast Fitzgerald Glider Ford. Early in the race I thought we were going to drive up and win it, and then the last two or three runs we just kind of lost the handle, but all in all a strong day. We’re still looking for some rear downforce in the Fords. I think if we had that, we might have had a shot at it, but, all in all, we ran solid and ran competitive, so that’s good.”

In the final race before the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) playoffs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove his Fastenal Ford to a 19th-place finish. With his two wins in the 2017 MENCS regular season, Stenhouse earns his first playoff berth.