The 2007 Coca-Cola 600 champion from Bakersfield, California, will be driving the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford entry for his first start in NASCAR's premier series since the 2019 Daytona 500.
HMS will field its No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet entry for a total of 16 Xfinity events in 2025 as Alex Bowman, William Byron, Corey Day, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson will all take turns piloting the entry.
The National Motorsports Press Association upheld Trackhouse Racing's penalties originally levied for violating the Member Code of Conduct section from the NASCAR Rule Book following the team's on-track actions from this past weekend's Playoff event at Martinsville.
Three Cup Series teams (Nos. 1, 3 and 23) have been docked 50 driver/owner points and fined $100,000 apiece for violating NASCAR's Member Conduct sections in the Rule Book amid acts of manipulation and providing on-track advantages for respective Playoff manufacturer competitors during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville.
The 2024 Cup Series championship hopes for both Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin came to an end despite both notching strong top-five runs during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville.
The reigning Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led 32 of 500-scheduled laps and overtook Playoff contender Chase Elliott for the lead with 14 laps remaining to muscle his way to a redemptive Cup victory at Martinsville and return to the Championship 4 round with an opportunity to defend his series title.
The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led a race-high 150 of 250-scheduled laps and swept both stages en route to his third Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and secure an owner's championship berth for Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 Toyota team.
The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, clocked in a pole-winning lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds, which was enough to claim his first pole in his penultimate Cup Series career start at Martinsville.
