NASCAR Cup Series

So it begins. Chicago, where the Chase began. Chicago, where winning was a big thing, but not the only thing. Win and you advance. Drop out or too near the rear of the pack and all you have is New Hampshire and Charlotte to get it right, to fix the problem, to save your season. Three races, 16 drivers, and just a dozen spots available in order to continue the quest.

1. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex started third at Chicagoland as Toyota's took the top three qualifying spot. Despite an early pit road speeding penalty, Truex recovered and took the win, securing his spot in the second round of the Chase For The Cup.

When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs come to Talladega Superspeedway for the fred's 250 Powered by Coca-Cola on Saturday, Oct. 14, one could say that Johnny Sauter will have a distinct advantage. He is the only driver - out of the eight who have qualified for the playoffs - that knows the way to the track’s Gatorade Victory Lane.

Charlotte Motor Speedway rolled out its new Speedway College Party ticket program, which for $29 with valid college ID gets college students Turn 4 Sun Deck admission into the Bank of America 500 on Sunday, Oct. 8; The ticket also includes access to the Saturday night, Oct. 7 Brad Paisley concert at zMAX Dragway

Hendrick Motorsports has named Darian Grubb crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet SS team and driver Kasey Kahne for the remaining nine playoff races of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season. He will be atop the pit box for Sunday’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The Tales of the Turtles 400 proved to be a learning experience for all the wrong reasons for Erik Jones and the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota team that earned a 33rd-place finish Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Quote: “We can be happy with sixth (place finish). We scored a bunch of stage points and had a solid day up front with the Miller Lite Ford Fusion. One more of these races either Loudon or Dover and we should be good to advance to the next round. I think we can pull that off. We are still looking for a little speed but execution today was really, really strong. Great day on pit road, great restarts. All that stuff was what you look for, we just need to marry that up with some speed and we can win any of these races.”

Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane team were able to bounce back from early misfortune in Sunday’s playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway and come home with an 11th-place finish that keeps them in the top 10 in points heading into the second playoff race at New Hampshire next Sunday.

After losing heartbreakers the past two weekends in the closing laps in Darlington, S.C. and Richmond, Va., the Furniture Row Racing driver roared back Sunday in NASCAR’s playoff opener with a dominating victory in the Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Camry driver Martin Truex Jr. finished earned his fifth win of the season in Sunday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Chicagoland Speedway – the first race of the 10-race Playoff for the championship.