With Hendrick Trending in The Right Direction, Don’t Count Out Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup Series race since May of 2025… but that doesn’t mean he’s not in championship contention. The Elk Grove, California-native comes into the post-season as the seventh overall seed, and while the testimony amongst drivers in The Chase (except for Ryan Preece) has been that the real contenders will stand amongst the top-five or six, the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion could be an exemption to that rule.

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Tyler Reddick Hoping to Use Summer Adversity as Tool for Chase Success

It’s a tale of two emotions for 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick heading into The Chase this Fall. The Corning, California-native is getting a chance to avenge his struggles for his No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE team, led by Billy Scott, after what has been a horrific Summer by all accounts, with six finishes of 25th place or worse in the last 12 races, which cost Reddick the highest seed for the points reset to his team owner, Denny Hamlin.

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Preece Struts Into Chase With Confidence; “It’s Not Easy, but We Can Do It”

The prevailing opinion this season, when talking about the return of The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, is that a driver will need to be seeded inside the top-six to have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. Ryan Preece skirted his way into The Chase this year, winning the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway and narrowly taking the final spot in the post-season from Shane Van Gisbergen, leaving him as the 16th and final seed.

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Zilisch, SVG Running Red Bull-Sponsored CARS Tour Entries at Florence

Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Gisbergen, NASCAR Cup Series teammates at Trackhouse Racing, are going to be making an extra stop this weekend on the way to Darlington, competing in Friday’s zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car event at Florence Motor Speedway. While the presence of two NASCAR Cup Series drivers is already a massive deal for the regional short track series, the drivers are also bringing along a major partner for the 150-lapper on Friday, in energy drink conglomerate Red Bull.

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Team Penske Swapping Blaney, Cindric Pit Crews for Chase

Team Penske is making a change to its over-the-wall crews ahead of The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, the team confirmed on Tuesday. Ahead of Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, the crews for the No. 2 (Austin Cindric) and No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) will be swapped. Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the No. 2 Seed in The Chase, has had a horrific season when it comes to performance on pit road, ranking 32nd of 35 full-time teams, per NASCAR Insights.

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Report: John Hunter Nemechek Not Returning to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB

John Hunter Nemechek will not return to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in 2027, per a report from Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic on Tuesday. Nemechek, who has spent the last three seasons piloting the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE in the NASCAR Cup Series, will not be a part of the team’s three-driver lineup for next season. The 29-year-old driver is a 24-time NASCAR National Series winner (13 in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and 11 in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series).

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Josh Bilicki Entering 2027 DAYTONA 500 with Garage 66

It’s only the end of August, but Josh Bilicki and Garage 66 have already confirmed their intentions to enter the 2027 DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway next February. With sponsorship from Protection Technologies, a company that designs, installs and commissions complete low-voltage security systems for several different types of clients, will sponsor the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the 69th running of ‘The Great American Race”.

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William Byron to Run Valvoline Scheme Designed by 12-Year-Old Blood Cancer Survivor Palmer Goforth

Valvoline, Hendrick Motorsports, and Blood Cancer United are partnering once again in 2026 to put a special paint scheme on-track this Fall in a NASCAR Cup Series event, the trio of companies jointly announced on Monday. William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, will be running a specially designed paint scheme in a NASCAR Cup Series event during The Chase, which was designed for this specific occasion…

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Super Sub Harrison Burton Comes Home 12th in “Weird’ Daytona Race

After picking up a solid eighth-place result in Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at Daytona International Speedway (his third top-10 finish of the season for Sam Hunt Racing), Harrison Burton thought his weekend was going to be over. The Huntersville, North Carolina-native, in his role as reserve driver for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, typically remains on-site a day past his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series commitments if a NASCAR Cup Series team, whether that be LEGACY, or in a pinch, someone else, needs a quick fill-in.

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Erik Jones Wrecks Late After Carson Hocevar Gets Loose in Front of the Field: “Never F***ing Works Out”

Erik Jones hoped for his sixth top-10 finish of the season but instead wrecked with fewer than 10 laps to go at Daytona International Speedway. Jones was running in contention for most of the race with a fourth-place finish in stage one. With six laps to go, Jones put himself in a spot to get a good finish, as he was trying to get into the top 10.

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New Superspeedway Package Earns Mixed Reviews Following Coke Zero Sugar 400

The biggest mystery of this weekend’s regular-season finale wasn’t who would pull into Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway, but instead, what the on-track product would look like in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, after NASCAR made changes to its superspeedway aerodynamic package. With bizarre fuel saving and gridlocked finishes drawing the ire of both fans and competitors, NASCAR looked for an answer to the problem, or at least the first step in fixing it, by reducing the height of the rear spoiler from seven to four inches (to be aligned with the intermediate package) and dropping horsepower from 510 to 465.

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Ryan Preece Collects Final Chase Spot After Clutch Daytona Win

Ryan Preece and the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse team basically needed to win Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway to even have a CHANCE at making The Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. So, that’s what they did… The Berlin, Connecticut-native pulled off the unthinkable at “The World Center of Racing” on Saturday night, keeping the No.

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Alex Guenette Pummels NASCAR Canada Series Field at Circuit ICAR

After being the quickest driver in practice and absolutely curb-stomping the field in qualifying (winning the pole by nearly half a second), Saturday’s NAPA 100 at Circuit ICAR went about as you would expect for Terrebonne, Quebec-native Alex Guenette. Piloting the No. 39 DLGL Technologies / GL Electric Automatisation Chevrolet Camaro, in a partnership with JASS Racing and XEMIS Racing, Guenette took absolutely no prisoners in Saturday’s 43-lap event, leading every single lap and pulling out to a remarkable 11.672-second lead over established road racer Andrew Ranger.

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Riley Herbst Sitting Out Coke Zero Sugar 400; Harrison Burton to Sub-In

Riley Herbst will not compete in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Daytona International Speedway, 23XI Racing says. According to the organization, Herbst woke up feeling lingering effects of a hard crash last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he got turned by Michael McDowell into the outside wall, and later hit by Connor Zilisch. Thus, Herbst and 23XI Racing elected to remove the Las Vegas, Nevada-native from the No.

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Alex Guenette Takes Early Command of NASCAR Canada Series at Circuit ICAR

In the early stages of Saturday’s NASCAR Canada Series event at Circuit ICAR, Alex Guenette, a native of Terrebonne, Quebec, has been able to take the fight to championship leader and season dominator, Marc-Antoine Camirand, by leading practice and winning the pole for the NAPA 100.   Guenette stormed to the pole position on Saturday, with a blazingly fast lap time of 1:04.76, nearly a full half-second quicker than Kevin Lacroix and Alex Tagliani, who qualified second and third.

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'Days of Thunder 2' Moving Forward with Cruise Reprising Role of Cole Trickle

The Hollywood Reporter reports a sequel to 'Days of Thunder' with Tom Cruise returning as Cole Trickle. Filming starts in 2027; details are under wraps.

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Tristan McKee Dominates Late To Win at Madison

After a costly mistake by Max Reaves, it was Tristan McKee who was able to prevail late during Friday's Atlas 200 at Madison International Speedway. Driving the No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group, McKee was able to grab the lead early from his teammate Carson Brown, before losing the lead to Max Reaves on lap 14. Reaves led the next handful of laps until shortly after halfway, when McKee got to his inside on the restart, securing the lead after Reaves locked up his tires on lap 109.

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Ryan Sieg FINALLY Gets First O’Reilly Series Win at Daytona

After 14 years and 423 starts, Ryan Sieg is FINALLY a winner in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The Tucker, Georgia-native, driving for his family-owned operation, RSS Racing, was able to eliminate the pesky goose egg that had taken up the win column for so long on Friday at Daytona International Speedway, leading the race’s final two laps and holding off advances from Austin Hill to take the checkered flag.

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Carson Brown Picks Up Fourth Pole of 2026 at Madison

With his future plans locked and secured, it will be Carson Brown, driving the No. 28 Grizzly Coolers Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group, who will lead the field to the green flag in Friday's Atlas 200 at Madison International Speedway. Brown, who will join Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series lineup in 2027, posted the fastest time of 18.218 seconds (98.803mph) during the single-car qualifying session.

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Ross Chastain Wins Pole for Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona

Ross Chastain has been mathematically eliminated from the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase for The Championship. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver is still pushing hard to secure his first win in over a year. The Alva, Florida-native will lead the field of 40 NASCAR Cup Series drivers to the green in Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, after laying down a strong lap in the second (and final round of qualifying).

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Rajah Caruth Earns First Career O’Reilly Series Pole at Daytona

Rajah Caruth enters Friday's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway fighting to make The Chase, just 15 points below the cutline. Now, after a strong start to the weekend, the world is his oyster. The 24-year-old driver will lead the field to green in Friday's Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway, driving the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, after laying down a strong lap in the second round of qualifying Friday.

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Daniel Dye Signs Multi-Year Agreement to Drive Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32

Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport has inked a multi-year deal with 22-year-old Daniel Dye, who will drive the No. 32 Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series starting in 2027. Champion Container will continue its relationship with the Deland, Florida-native throughout the 2027 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series campaign. Dye will also continue to raise awareness for his Race to Stop Suicide campaign,  a national suicide-prevention initiative focused on breaking the stigma surrounding mental health and encouraging open and honest conversations about it.

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NASCAR Betting Value Report: Coke Zero Sugar 400

Welcome back to my weekly betting value article on JosephSrigley.com. I’ve been a NASCAR fan my entire life. My earliest memory is Geoff Bodine taking the checkered flag in the 1986 Daytona 500. I stepped away for a while, then came roaring back through fantasy racing and sports betting. That return forced me to build my own data-driven ranking system from raw lap-by-lap data.

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Brandon Jones, Menards Re-Sign with Joe Gibbs Racing for 2027

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) confirmed Thursday that Brandon Jones has signed a contract extension with the organization to continue piloting the No. 20 Menards Toyota GR Supra in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series through the 2027 season. Next season will mark the 12th full-time campaign in the series for Jones, and his eighth with the championship-winning organization. The 29-year-old driver has seen a resurgence in his performance since returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025, picking up three victories, 13 finishes inside the top five, and 26 top-10s.

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Carson Kvapil to Drive JR Motorsports No. 8 in 2027

Carson Kvapil will race full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for JR Motorsports in 2027. The Mooresville, North Carolina-native, who won back-to-back events in NASCAR’s second-tier division at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway, will be taking over the reins of the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro next season, previously driven by Sammy Smith. On Wednesday, Smith announced that he would not be returning to JR Motorsports after three seasons.

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Natalie Decker Joins Young’s for Daytona with Backing From Hulu Series ‘Chad Powers’

Natalie Decker is returning to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for this weekend’s Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway (August 28), where she’ll partner with Young’s Motorsports to drive the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro. Decker, 29, has made 16 previous starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for a variety of different lower-budget organizations over the last half-decade, running for teams such as RSS Racing, Our Motorsports, MBM Motorsports, SS-Greenlight Racing, Joey Gase Motorsports, and DGM Racing.

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Sammy Smith Not Returning to JR Motorsports in 2027

Sammy Smith is not returning to JR Motorsports in 2027, the Johnston, Iowa-native confirmed in a social media post on Wednesday. “New chapter. Same mindset,” Smith wrote. “After this season, I’ll be moving on from JR Motorsports and into a new chapter. I’m incredibly grateful for everyone at JRM who has been part of the last three years. Being a part of this No.

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NASCAR Releases Full 2027 National Series Schedules

Following multiple weeks of single-date rollouts based on racetrack, NASCAR, on Wednesday, released the entire 2027 NASCAR National Series calendar – including the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is highlighted by a return to Daytona International Speedway for The Wheatley Vodka Clash, a return to Naval Base Coronado, as the beginning of a newfound partnership between NASCAR and the United States Department of War, and a return to NASCAR Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway (for the second consecutive year).

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Carson Brown, Chandler Smith to Drive for RCR in O’Reilly Series for 2027

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) announced Wednesday that Carson Brown and Chandler Smith would join the team’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program for 2027. Carson Brown, a development driver for Richard Childress Racing, will run his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, taking over the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro from defending series champion Jesse Love, who is moving to the NASCAR Cup Series.

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