NASCAR O'Reilly Series

Team Penske has announced that 20-year-old Austin Cindric will compete full time in the 2019 NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS), driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang. In the midst of completing his NXS rookie season in 2018, Cindric will get the opportunity to build on that success as he works to bring another driver’s championship to the No. 22 Ford team next season.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series will be in action at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. All three series enter their final elimination races that will set up the Championship 4.

“I’ve never been to Phoenix before, but I’m excited it’s a short track.  I got to make some laps at Phoenix in the simulator last week and I felt like we had a good session and made quite a few gains in the car.  With the new configuration it will be a little bit different for everybody, but overall excited to get over there and see what we’ve got.”

“This weekend, we’ve got to perform from the moment we unload on Friday to when we take the checkered flag on Saturday. All year, we’ve had our eyes on Homestead and a strong run at Phoenix is our last step in making that happen. I know this team is capable of it and deserves to be apart of the Championship 4, running for the title at Homestead-Miami.” – Elliott Sadler

With the end of the 2018 season on the horizon, Roush Fenway Racing heads back out West as both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) converge on the newly-redesigned ISM Raceway. A Roush Fenway Ford has visited victory lane at the 1-mile track on 17 occasions across NASCAR’s three major touring series.

Reed has competed at ISM Raceway 10 times in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Reed’s best finish of sixth came in the fall of 2016.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series History at ISM Raceway ... Team owner Richard Childress has six victories at ISM Raceway, ranking him third on the all-time car owner victories list at the Avondale, Ariz. facility. This includes wins with Ryan Newman in March 2017, along with Kevin Harvick in Nov. 2013, Nov. 2012 and March and Nov. 2006. Prior to that, Dale Earnhardt won the Checker 500 on Nov. 4, 1990. In 117 starts at ISM Raceway, the Welcome, North Carolina based organization boasts 19 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes.

Gallagher and the No. 23 team will utilize chassis no. 220. This chassis has been raced three times this season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by Johnny Sauter (start:12th/finish:19th), at Bristol Motor Speedway by Chase Elliott (start:15th/finish:8th) and at Richmond Raceway by Spencer Gallagher (start:16th /finish:12th).

The pressure is on for young Christopher Bell but he is not letting it affect him. It’s been a forgettable last two weeks for Bell after having issues during the races. Getting involved in two spins, in two different venues, has ended his days.

Contact at the front of the field brought out the caution on lap one Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. Reed avoided any major damage in the melee, but suffered some cosmetic hood damage that required multiple trips down pit road for bearbond. Reed rebounded from the early contact and by the end of the race was in contention for a solid top-10 finish, until another competitor got underneath him on the track causing the No. 16 Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford Mustang to get into the outside wall. The damage was too severe to continue, sending Reed to the garage four laps shy of the scheduled distance and scored with a 29th-place finish.