A maximum of 96 points are left on the table as the boys and Danica move on to Phoenix and Homestead, which comes as bad news for pretty much anybody not named Jimmie Johnson or Brad Keselowski.
Jimmie Johnson led 168 laps and won from the pole for the second week in a row at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Johnson restarted on the outside of Brad Keselowski on the final green-white-checkered restart. Johnson made the pass and pulled away while exiting turn-2 and held onto the lead for the final laps.
During the Classic 3 Champion race weekend at Rockingham Speedway, I was able to spend a few minutes speaking with Danny “Chocolate” Myers, legendary gas man for Dale Earnhardt. Myers was there to wave the green flag and give the command to start engines for the inaugural running of the three championship races.
Kevin Harvick ran away with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge 300 win on Saturday night in Texas, but it was the battle for the championship that stole the show.
Denny Hamlin is no stranger to run-ins with young Nationwide Series drivers. Just Google or YouTube he and Brad Keselowski. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind either, even if his opinion might not be the popular or correct one. Rewind to Dover in 2010 following penalties handed down to Richard Childress Racing in the first Chase race.
Kevin Harvick won the 8th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway for his 39th victory in his NASCAR Nationwide Series career and the second of the season.
Reddick won the race with Corey LaJoie finishing second. Darrell Wallace Jr. came from the back after his penalty to finish in the third position. Coleman Pressley and Jesse Little rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
The 19-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, posted a pole-winning lap at 88.398 mph at COTA in 97.740 seconds, which was enough for him to claim his first O'Reilly pole position of the 2026 season.
The 27-year-old Mosack from Charlotte, North Carolina, was awarded the pole position for Saturday's Truck event at St. Petersburg due to rain canceling Saturday's qualifying and practice sessions.
Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of running double-duty in the NASCAR Cup and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Circuit of The Americas.
Scott McLaughlin showed the speed that has earned him two prior poles at this event, leading the first practice Friday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brent Crews was made available to the media on Friday prior to his NASCAR O’Reilly Parts Series debut this weekend at Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas.
