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NASCARCelebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

Shane van Gisbergen wins at Roval; Joey Logano advances in Playoffs

Jordan Bank/Getty Images

October 5, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.—As expected, road course maven Shane van Gisbergen won Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400, but that was only a small part of the story at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

Long after van Gisbergen took the checkered flag to record his fifth straight road course victory of the NASCAR Cup Series season, Ross Chastain made a banzai run in the frontstretch chicane and wiped out Denny Hamlin’s Toyota in a desperate attempt to secure the final spot in the Playoffs’ Round of 8.

Spinning after the contact with Hamlin’s car, Chastain threw his car into reverse and sped backwards across the finish line, but the effort proved futile. The final Round of 8 spot instead went to defending series champion Joey Logano, who finished 20th and advanced by four points over the Trackhouse Racing driver.

A pair of mistakes on pit road cost Chastain dearly. At the first stage break, he ran wide into the 90-degree corner at the exit from pit road, missed the turn and came to a stop, losing 15 positions to restart 30th.

After recovering from that error and putting himself in position to advance, Chastain sped on pit road on Lap 87 of 109, ran long to the finish and lost too many spots on the final two laps to hold off Logano.

“(Trackhouse owner) Justin (Marks) hired me to carry this 1 car and to drive it and to be a leader, and I just completely unraveled our day,” a crestfallen Chastain said. “We definitely had the speed on the last lap, yeah, and missed turn 7, and I slid the rear tires and let the 11 (Hamlin) by.

“Yeah, not acceptable. I just completely … you know, just completely unacceptable.”

Logano was delighted to escape the race at the 2.28-mile circuit with the opportunity for a fourth NASCAR Cup Series title intact.

“Such a close finish there,” he said. “Yeah, knew it was within a point there (before the last-corner collision). I knew we were going to be tied there at the end, and Ross was going to do whatever he had to do to make it happen. Geesh, just wasn't quite fast enough today with our car.

“It's the drama of the playoffs. If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time.”

Eliminated along with Chastain were pole winner Tyler Reddick (10th), Bubba Wallace (15th) and Austin Cindric, who needed a win to advance and instead finished last (37th) after a litany of issues throughout the race.

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott already had advanced to the Round of 8 with respective Round of 12 victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway. Race runner-up Kyle Larson, third-place Christopher Bell, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, Hamlin and Logano joined them after Sunday’s elimination race.

Both Larson and Bell made van Gisbergen’s task harder than usual. The New Zealander, however, was so good at managing his fragile tires that he finished the final 59-lap stage on two pit stops compared with three for his closest pursuers.

The result was a whopping 15.160-second margin of victory over Larson for the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. The victory was his fifth of the season and sixth overall, and his five straight road course wins are one short of Jeff Gordon’s series record, set from 1997 through 2000.

Both Bell and Larson were aggressive in their attempts to unseat NASCAR’s current road course king. On Lap 63, Larson muscled his way past van Gisbergen, with Bell following into second.

After a cycle of green-flag pit stops, the Kiwi passed Bell for second. Eight laps later, he dived to the inside of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet in the Turn 7 hairpin and regained the lead.

After another round of pit stops, SVG and Larson swapped the lead with significant contact between their cars before van Gisbergen passed Larson through the backstretch chicane on Lap 98 and held it the rest of the way.

“Yeah, just started getting hot and sliding around, but what an awesome race,” van Gisbergen said. “Kyle and Christopher driving really good and got a little rough, but, man, the battle was awesome.

“With the Chevy, I lost it a little bit at the start of Stage 3, and whatever they did for the rest of the race, unbelievable. Really enjoyed that, and that was a long time waiting, hoping the yellow wasn't going to come out (as he ran late on older tires).”

Briscoe made the Round of 8 by 19 points with a 14th-place finish despite feeling ill during the race. At one point, he asked for a bag of ice, which he stuffed inside his driver’s suit.

“It was definitely an odd day,” Briscoe said. “We definitely just weren’t that great. I don’t know. They gave me a pill in the beginning, and I felt a lot better. I was just so dizzy … I’ve been fighting something all week, and I sound terrible, I’m sure.

“After those first 20 laps, I was able to kind of feel fine. At the end I was struggling a little bit, but I was just focusing on not making any mistakes. Not a super pretty day for our Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Toyota. It was good enough—that’s all we needed to do.”

Non-Playoff drivers Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez finished fourth through seventh, respectively. Elliott was eighth, followed by AJ Allmendinger and Reddick.

The Round of 8 begins next Sunday with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (5:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Bank of America ROVAL 400

Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course

Concord, North Carolina

Sunday, October 5, 2025

1. (2) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 109.

2. (4) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 109.

3. (7) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 109.

4. (5) Chris Buescher, Ford, 109.

5. (6) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 109.

6. (29) Ryan Preece, Ford, 109.

7. (20) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 109.

8. (15) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 109.

9. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 109.

10. (1) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 109.

11. (13) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 109.

12. (3) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 109.

13. (11) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 109.

14. (8) Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 109.

15. (12) Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 109.

16. (33) Josh Berry, Ford, 109.

17. (31) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 109.

18. (25) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 109.

19. (26) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 109.

20. (17) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 109.

21. (10) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 109.

22. (18) Cole Custer, Ford, 109.

23. (14) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 109.

24. (24) Zane Smith, Ford, 109.

25. (21) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 109.

26. (35) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 109.

27. (16) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 108.

28. (30) Noah Gragson, Ford, 108.

29. (27) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 108.

30. (23) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 108.

31. (37) Erik Jones, Toyota, 108.

32. (36) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 108.

33. (34) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, 108.

34. (32) Cody Ware, Ford, 108.

35. (28) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 100.

36. (22) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Drivetrain, 89.

37. (19) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 87.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 81.105 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 51 Secs. Margin of Victory: 15.160 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 10 laps.

Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: *. Reddick (P) 1-3;S. Van Gisbergen # 4-14;C. Buescher 15-19;S. Van Gisbergen # 20-27;A. Allmendinger 28-40;S. Van Gisbergen # 41-48;R. Blaney (P) 49-52;S. Van Gisbergen # 53-62;K. Larson (P) 63-71;S. Van Gisbergen # 72-73;K. Larson (P) 74-86;S. Van Gisbergen # 87-91;K. Larson (P) 92-95;S. Van Gisbergen # 96;K. Larson (P) 97;S. Van Gisbergen # 98-109.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Shane Van Gisbergen # 8 times for 57 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 4 times for 27 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 13 laps; Chris Buescher 1 time for 5 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 4 laps; * Tyler Reddick (P) 1 time for 3 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 88,5,54,20,1,71,19,9,24,10

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,45,9,1,88,5,20,22,99,41

Tyler Reddick edges Shane van Gisbergen for pole at Charlotte Road Course

David Jensen/Getty Images

October 4, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.—Tyler Reddick picked an ideal time to regain his form at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

With a lap at 95.510 mph (85.939 seconds), Reddick edged three-time Australian Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen for the pole position in Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Reddick, who claimed the top starting spot at the 17-turn layout in 2023, edged van Gisbergen (95.474 mph), winner of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races on road courses, by 0.032 seconds to earn his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his second at the 2.28-mile circuit and the 11th of his career.

In a qualifying session that featured unexpected severe fall-off of tires selected for all six road courses this season, Reddick put himself in position to overcome the 29-point deficit he faces entering the Round of 12 cutoff race in the Playoffs.

Reddick believes the tire factor may be the most important aspect in determining strategy for Sunday’s race.

“I think everybody that had a plan, an idea on the strategy for this race just had it completely ripped in half,” said Reddick, who posted three road course victories shortly after the transition to the Gen 7 car in 2022.

“All the teams are now looking at what the fall-off was like today and refiguring what the strategy's going to look like. I would imagine that tires are going to be important to have late if there's a caution, based on what we saw today.”

The top 10 drivers in time trials constituted a diverse mix of Playoff and non-Playoff drivers. With Reddick on the pole, Playoff drivers Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain qualified fourth, seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively.

Behind van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs (95.265 mph) was third fastest, followed by Chris Buescher (fifth), Michael McDowell (sixth) and AJ Allmendinger (ninth), as non-Playoff drivers accounted for five of the top 10 starters.

Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott claimed positions 11 through 15 on the grid, respectively. Team Penske Playoff drivers Joey Logano, the defending series champion, and Austin Cindric will start 17th and 19th.

Logano holds the eighth position in the Cup standings, 13 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 8. Cindric is 48 points below the line, almost certainly needing a victory to advance.

Blaney and Elliott already have earned berths in the Round of 8 with their respective victories at New Hampshire and Kansas, respectively.

Van Gisbergen, who also started second in his most recent win at Watkins Glen, is seeking his fifth consecutive road course victory. The record for the Cup Series is six straight, set by Jeff Gordon (1997-2000).

Opportunistic Chase Elliott steals a NASCAR Cup Playoff win at Kansas

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In the last few feet of race track in the second overtime Sunday afternoon, Chase Elliott came from oblivion to steal the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET and earn a berth in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

As his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sped wide open through the final corner on Lap 273 at Kansas Speedway, Elliott’s car bounced off the side of Denny Hamlin’s Toyota on the way to the finish line.

Elliott, who restarted eighth for the final two-lap shootout, got to the stripe 0.069 seconds ahead of Hamlin, who led 159 laps and drove the final stretch of the second Round of 12 Playoff race without benefit of power steering.

“Everything worked out perfect for me,” said Elliott, who picked up his second win of the season, his second at Kansas and the 21st of his career. “Had a great push through (Turns) 1 and 2. That kind of all started with the 6 (Brad Keselowski). Big run off of 2. Seas kind of parted and just was able to keep my momentum up. That was really it…

“I wasn't going to lift, so I didn't know what was going to happen. I figured at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point. We were both wide open corner exit. Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were all committed.”

Hamlin was spent after man-handling his car around the 1.5-mile track in the closing laps of the race.

“Just super disappointing,” said Hamlin, who swept the first and second stages. “I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 (career victories) for me. The team just did an amazing job with the car, just really, really fast.

“Gave me everything I needed. Got the restart I needed. Just couldn't finish it there on the last corner.”

The good news for Hamlin is that he increased his margin over the current Playoff cut line to 48 points entering next Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Barring disaster, Hamlin is all but assured of advancing to the Round of 8.

Christopher Bell finished third, followed by pole winner Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace, who led the field to green for the final overtime restart but faded to fifth after battling side-by-side with Hamlin on the final lap.

Wallace was leading as he approached the white flag in the first overtime, but a violent four-car collision in Turn 3 on Lap 267 necessitated a caution that slowed the field before Wallace could reach the flag stand.

“Two years ago, I'd probably say something dumb,” said Wallace, who drives for the 23XI Racing team Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. “He's a dumbass for that move (on the final lap). I don't care if he's my boss or not. But we're going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there.

“Toyotas were super-fast, and proud to be driving one. I thought it was meant to be, and then it wasn't.”

Despite the fifth-place finish, Wallace leaves Kansas 10th in the standings, 26 points below the elimination line for the next round.

He was tantalizingly close to his second win of the season before John Hunter Nemechek knocked the Ford of Zane Smith into the outside wall in Turn 3 in the first overtime.

The impact from Nemechek’s Toyota turned Smith’s Ford sideways against the outside wall, with Smith’s car sliding on the driver’s side through the corner before barrel-rolling down the banking and coming to rest upright on four wheels.

“It was a wild ride, no doubt,” Smith said. “Before I knew it, I had a decent restart going and I just get wrecked by the 42 (Nemechek). He just drives through me and then I was sliding on the wall.

“I was just mad at that point from how our day was going, and this just pissed me off even more, because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track. It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Speedy Cash Ford today. It’s just a bummer.”

Playoff driver Austin Cindric was collected in an 11-car wreck in Turn 1 on Lap 217 and heads to the Charlotte Roval 48 points below the elimination line and almost certainly needing a victory to advance.

Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick ran sixth and seventh on Sunday but head to Charlotte in very different positions. Larson is 54 points ahead of ninth-place Ross Chastain, while Reddick is 11th in the standings, 29 points below the cut line.

Keselowski finished eighth at Kansas, followed by Playoff driver William Byron, who fought and ill-handling car until his No. 24 Chevrolet came to life in the final run.

Despite a pass-through penalty on the first lap for an inspection failure, New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen followed Byron, posting his first career top-10 finish on a NASCAR oval.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Sunday, September 28, 2025

1. (4) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 273.

2. (2) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 273.

3. (5) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 273.

4. (1) Chase Briscoe (P), Toyota, 273.

5. (7) Bubba Wallace (P), Toyota, 273.

6. (3) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 273.

7. (12) Tyler Reddick (P), Toyota, 273.

8. (31) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 273.

9. (11) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 273.

10. (24) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 273.

11. (9) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 273.

12. (23) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 273.

13. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 273.

14. (21) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 273.

15. (15) Chris Buescher, Ford, 273.

16. (10) Erik Jones, Toyota, 273.

17. (30) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 273.

18. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 273.

19. (29) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 273.

20. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 273.

21. (35) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 273.

22. (32) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 273.

23. (14) Noah Gragson, Ford, 273.

24. (37) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 273.

25. (8) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 272.

26. (19) Ryan Preece, Ford, 271.

27. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 271.

28. (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 271.

29. (6) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 269.

30. (26) Austin Cindric (P), Ford, 269.

31. (28) Zane Smith, Ford, Accident, 266.

32. (25) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, Accident, 266.

33. (13) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 266.

34. (36) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 261.

35. (18) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 236.

36. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 216.

37. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, Accident, 52.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.106 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 19 Mins, 35 Secs. Margin of Victory: .069 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 9 for 48 laps.

Lead Changes: 20 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Briscoe (P) 1-19;D. Hamlin (P) 20-37;J. Berry 38;R. Blaney (P) 39;B. Keselowski 40-44;D. Hamlin (P) 45-83;C. Bell (P) 84-86;K. Larson (P) 87;C. Bell (P) 88-122;J. Nemechek 123;D. Suarez 124-129;D. Hamlin (P) 130-172;C. Elliott (P) 173-195;D. Hamlin (P) 196-221;C. Bell (P) 222;D. Hamlin (P) 223-255;C. Bell (P) 256-258;*. Wallace (P) 259-265;C. Bell (P) 266;*. Wallace (P) 267-272;C. Elliott (P) 273.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin (P) 5 times for 159 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 5 times for 43 laps; Chase Elliott (P) 2 times for 24 laps; Chase Briscoe (P) 1 time for 19 laps; * Bubba Wallace (P) 2 times for 13 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 6 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 5 laps; John Hunter Nemechek 1 time for 1 lap; Kyle Larson (P) 1 time for 1 lap; Josh Berry 1 time for 1 lap; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 11,5,9,20,1,19,22,17,38,77

Stage #2 Top Ten: 11,20,5,9,19,23,22,1,12,48

Chase Briscoe snags pole for NASCAR Cup Playoff race at Kansas

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Chase Briscoe returned to his pole-winning ways on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, earning his series-best seventh Busch Light Pole Award of the season for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The only driver to exceed 180 mph at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, Briscoe turned a lap in 29.987 seconds (180.078 mph) to edge Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (179.474 mph) for the top starting spot in the second Round of 12 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race by 0.101 seconds.

With Christopher Bell qualifying fifth at 179.015 mph, JGR Playoff drivers claimed three of the top five starting spots. Hendrick Motorsports Playoff drivers Kyle Larson (179.396 mph) and Chase Elliott (179.063 mph) qualified third and fourth, respectively, in their Chevrolets.

The pole was Briscoe’s first at Kansas and the ninth of his career. What surprised the driver of the No.19 Toyota was a slow-down in qualifying speeds from May of this year, when Larson earned the top spot on the grid with a lap at 183.730 mph.

“This time around, not a single car in the field ran wide-open through (Turns) 1 and 2,” said Briscoe, who hadn’t won a pole since early August at Iowa Speedway. “Everything we had prepped for was kind of totally opposite from what we just did there.

“I thought my team did a really good job of making adjustments for the slower pace and everything that goes into that.”

Non-Playoff driver Carson Hocevar qualified sixth, with Playoff drivers Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain claiming the seventh and ninth spots, respectively. Ty Gibbs was eighth fastest, and Erik Jones completed the top 10, giving Toyota drivers six of the top 10 starting positions.

Playoff drivers William Byron and Tyler Reddick will start 11th and 12th. Non-Playoff driver Josh Berry was 13th in the fastest Ford.

The qualifying session and the practice that preceded it were particularly challenging for Team Penske Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. Blaney, already locked into the Round of 8 with his victory last Sunday at New Hampshire, blew a right-rear tire in practice and crashed into the outside wall.

Blaney did not post a qualifying lap and will start 37th on Sunday. Logano, the defending series champion, also suffered a problem with the new right-side tire in practice and will start 35th.

“I just felt it starting to feel funky through (Turns) 3 and 4,” said Logano, who starts the race 24 points above the current cut line for the Round of 8. “It just didn’t feel right (in practice), so I took it a little safe than sorry and lifted off in the corner, which is when it really came apart.

“I’m glad I caught it there. I got a little lucky, but, overall, it should be OK with the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. We’ll put four tires on it, make some adjustments, cross our fingers and hope she runs good.”

Cindric scraped the outside wall on his qualifying lap and will start 26th. Cindric comes to Kansas 19 points below the elimination line for the next round.

--30--

Joey Logano continues title defense after tense elimination battle with Ross Chastain

Oct. 5, 2005

By HOLLY CAIN

NASCAR Wire Service

The final 2025 Playoff transfer position literally came down to the last corner of the final lap of competition in Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course – pitting one of the most exciting drivers in the sport, Ross Chastain, against the reigning series champion Joey Logano for that last position to move forward with title eligibility.

Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain certainly made a dramatic last-ditch effort to claim that final championship transfer position, running his Chevy hard into the final chicane and hitting the Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in the final corner of the road course – the contact spinning both cars. As their cars sat facing backwards on track, Chastain put his No. 1 Chevrolet in reverse to zip past the checkered flag rear bumper first.

Unfortunately for him, in the immediate aftermath of the collision, three other cars got by - including Logano, who was able to secure the eighth and final championship transfer position after chasing Chastain for most of the race. Logano finished 20th and Chastain 21st.

Last year’s regular season champion Tyler Reddick, his 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace and Logano’s Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric were also eliminated from championship contention following the race.

“I’d re-start the whole day,’’ Chastain replied when asked what he would have done differently in Sunday’s race, won by his Trackhouse teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.

In addition to the final lap drama, Chastain uncharacteristically suffered a pair of pit road miscues – each costing him valuable positions on track during earlier portions of the race. He missed the hard left-hander exiting the pits following a stop during the Stage 1 break then was penalized for speeding on pit road on his final stop with 22 laps remaining in the 109-lap race.

“Just unforced errors,’’ a disappointed Chastain said. “Just terrible. It’s heart-breaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse. … everybody that makes us go around. [Team owner] Justin [Marks] hired me to carry this 1-car and drive it and be a leader and I just completely unraveled our day. We had the speed.

“Not acceptable. Just completely unacceptable,’’ said Chastain, adding. “It’s terrible to get to this level and not perform. You watch, you learn and you study for half your life to get here and to fail is a terrible feeling right now. But I will wake up tomorrow and get right back to work.’’

For his part, Hamlin said he had no idea the dire points situation Chastain was involved in at that point in the race. In fact, Hamlin said he didn’t even know what points position the two were actually in on the last lap. “I didn’t know anything about anything going on,’’ Hamlin conceded. “I wish I had known. … I don’t fault Ross at all. I just wish I knew so I could have been prepared or made a different decision.’’

Shortly after climbing out of their cars on pit road, Logano and Chastain spoke to each other – ultimately exchanging smiles and pats on the back after the spirited competition on track.

“It’s tight, every spot,’’ Logano said. “If you don’t think regular season races matter, look at that. One point is the difference in making it.”

“We’re still alive, baby. Now we’ve got to win. We’ve got to win from here.”

Unlike Chastain who was only a dozen points below the transfer line coming into the race, Reddick, Wallace and Cindric essentially needed to win to move forward in Playoff competition.

But Reddick, in particular, looked poised for a dramatic turn after winning pole position in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. He led the opening three laps and finished 10th – best among the four drivers trying to race their way into a transfer position. But it wasn’t enough.

“I don’t know if anything necessarily went wrong today for how the race was playing out,’’ Reddick said. “We wanted to prioritize setting up to win the race. I think you could pick it apart – a couple restarts and what not, just kind of, as the race unfolded our long run was not where it needed to be with the top guys.

“Stage three there, we didn’t make the progress that we needed too, so we kind of went long there hoping for a caution there, and lost a lot of spots, but at the end of the day, we were trying to set ourselves up for a caution late.”

Wallace finished 15th and Cindric, a renowned road course racer, ended up 37th in the 37-car field after essentially being collateral damage in an early-race incident.

With the points re-set for the next three-race elimination round – with races at Las Vegas, Talladega, Ala. and Martinsville, Va. – Hamlin takes a two-point edge over Penske’s Ryan Blaney to the Vegas 1.5-miler. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron along with Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell are four points off the lead.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott are both 14 points back and Logano starts this penultimate round 24 points behind Hamlin.

Logano is the defending winner of next Sunday’s South Point 400 (5:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Playoff race at Las Vegas.

Joey Logano spells danger to other Round of 8 Playoff survivors

October 6, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Forget “Sliced Bread,” if you haven’t already. Call him “Houdini.”

On Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, defending champion Joey Logano made yet another great escape from the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

When Denny Hamlin passed Ross Chastain in the Turn 7 hairpin on the final lap of the Bank of America ROVAL 400, Logano and Chastain were tied for the final berth in the Round of 8.

Logano, however, held the tiebreaker based on best finish in the round. Logano ran fourth in the Round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Chastain’s best was ninth in that same race.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Chastain charged the final corner in a last-ditch attempt to pass Hamlin for the point he needed to advance to the next round. The contact spun both cars at the exit from Turn 17.

Chastain drove backwards across the finish line as Logano passed him to secure the final spot in the Round of 8 by four points.

For the second straight season, Logano needed help to survive the Round of 12. Last year, it was a disqualification to Alex Bowman that kept Logano in the Playoffs. On Sunday, Chastain made two critical pit road mistakes that doomed his chances and elevated Logano’s.

The second of those errors, a speeding penalty exiting his pit box on Lap 87, forced Chastain to stay on the track for the final 22 laps. By the end of that stint, with his tires degraded, Chastain was unable to keep Hamlin behind him when it mattered most.

Last year, granted a reprieve when Bowman’s car was DQ’d for failing to meet minimum weight, Logano proceeded to win the following week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and immediately set his sights on the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway.

His subsequent triumph in the Arizona desert gave Logano his third series championship. After Sunday’s race, one of the most dangerous drivers at Phoenix is still alive in the title chase.

Hamlin had no idea where the Playoff battle stood when he passed Chastain on the final lap. Deliberately cryptic, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver intimated he might have made a different choice, had he known.

“I would have made the best decision for me,” Hamlin said. “I wish I would have known… I didn’t know if I was running for 10th or 25th. Listening to the radio the whole time, there was just crickets.

“Nobody told me anything—I wish they did.”

Whatever Hamlin’s choice might have been, Logano’s path to the Championship 4 remains extremely challenging. He enters the Round of 8 in eighth place, 24 points below the current elimination line.

If Logano is to duplicate last year’s victory at Las Vegas, he’ll have to find considerably more speed than he showed at Kansas Speedway, where he finished 21st in the most recent race on a 1.5-mile intermediate track.

But in advancing at the Charlotte Road Course in the nail-biting way he did, in a race Shane van Gisbergen won by more than 15 seconds, Logano—in word and deed—delivered a commentary on the current elimination postseason format, as NASCAR contemplates changes to the Playoff system next year.

“The Playoffs create drama,” Logano said after the race. “It creates story lines. It creates awesome moments like that. I don’t understand what people don’t like about it. I really don’t get it.

“And if you’re one of those people who say the regular season doesn’t matter, and Playoff points don’t matter… Ha! One point would have been the difference there…

“If you don’t have cutoff races and things like that, what are you talking about today? How Shane waxed everyone’s butt?”

As the Playoffs are constituted today, if the remaining seven other drivers were polled, the majority likely would prefer not to have to face the driver formerly known as “Sliced Bread” (as in the best thing since) in the Round of 8.

Logano and the entire Team Penske organization enjoy the reputation as late bloomers who excel in the season finale at Phoenix.

That’s an edge Logano is happy to carry into the Round of 8—no matter how you slice it.

NASCAR Weekend Preview: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course

October 2, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Chase Briscoe looks to solidify position in NASCAR Cup Round of 8

Chase Briscoe is the only NASCAR Cup Series driver to have scored top-10s in each of the first five postseason races this year.

But in the “What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” world of auto racing, that model of consistency provides the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota minimal comfort heading to Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With the Playoff field set to be cut from 12 drivers to eight on Sunday, Briscoe is seventh in the standings, 21 points above the current elimination line. He’s eight points ahead of defending series champion Joey Logano in eighth and 21 points clear of Ross Chastain in ninth.

“I think this weekend, we’re obviously really just racing the 22 (Logano) and the 1 (Chastain),” said Briscoe, who has posted an average finish of 23.8 with a best of ninth in four Cup Series starts on the 2.28-mile road course. “If we can just go and outrun them in both stages and the race, then we’ll move on no matter what.

“But it’s obviously not that easy either. It’s tough knowing that we’ve been as good as we have, and there’s the potential to be knocked out.”

The race has the potential to present difficult strategic choices for Briscoe and crew chief James Small. Foremost perhaps will be the decision on short-pitting a stage to preserve track position versus taking valuable stage points and starting the next segment near the back of the field.

“All the Playoff guys are going to stay out to get stage points, and we’re going to get put to the back, and you’re going to be restarting 20th to 30th,” said Briscoe, who won the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 17-turn circuit in 2018. “That’s where all your Playoff hopes and dreams can change really, really quickly.

“That’s where I think you have to be really smart and conscious about the decisions that you’re making. It’s a little bit easier, I guess, having a little bit of a buffer.”

Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate, Shane van Gisbergen is the prohibitive favorite to win Sunday’s race—and justifiably so. The New Zealander has won the last four road course events this season.

Accordingly, Chastain plans to use the three-time Australian Supercars champion as a measure of his own potential as he tries to crack the top eight in the standings.

"(Crew chief) Phil Surgen and the guys get to figure out how to get stage points and set ourselves up for the end of the race,” Chastain said. “A lot of it depends on speed. If we're fast enough to battle with SVG, then we don't care as much about stage points because we're fast, and we just go win the race."

The bottom three in the standings face much longer odds than Chastain does. Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, teammates at 23XI Racing, are 26 and 29 points below the elimination line, respectively.

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric is 48 points in arrears, almost certainly needing a victory on Sunday to advance to the Round of 8. Cindric’s best finish in three starts at the Roval was fourth last year.

Six of the seven previous races at the Charlotte Road Course have been won by current Playoff drivers—Ryan Blaney (2018), Chase Elliott (2019 and 2020), Kyle Larson (2021 and 2024) and Christopher Bell (2022).

Blaney and Elliott already have qualified for the Round of 8 on the strength of their respective victories at New Hampshire and Kansas. Larson and Bell are comfortably situated in the standings at 54 and 44 points above the cut line.

Logano faced elimination after last year’s race at the Charlotte Road Course, but Alex Bowman’s disqualification for a car that was under minimum weight gave the Team Penske driver a reprieve.

Logano went on to win his third Cup Series championship.

Race is tight for final four NASCAR Xfinity Round of 8 Playoff spots

Three of the Round of 8 Playoff spots already are taken as the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads for Saturday’s Blue Cross NC 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (5 p.m. ET on CW, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Brandon Jones advanced on the strength of his victory last Saturday at Kansas Speedway. JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier already have clinched Round of 8 berths on points.

Fourth-place Sam Mayer of Haas Factory Team is 43 points above the current cut line entering the elimination race at the 2.28-mile road course, needing to score just 19 points to advance, no matter who wins the race.

Mayer has won the last two Xfinity Series events at the 17-turn circuit.

For the rest of the Playoff field, however, the race for the final four spots in the next round couldn’t be much tighter.

Fifth-place Taylor Gray is 16 points above the elimination line. Twelfth-place Sammy Smith is just 14 points below. Accordingly, performance in Saturday’s race will be a primary governing factor in setting the field for the Round of 8.

Hoping to join teammates Zilisch and Allgaier in the next round, Smith comes to Charlotte with momentum from last weekend’s fourth-place run at Kansas Speedway.

“We ran a solid race all day long at Kansas last weekend, which was what we needed to put us back in the game and have a shot at advancing to the Round of 8,” said Smith, who has finished 11th and 10th in his two starts at the Roval.

“I have full faith that this Pilot Chevrolet team can accomplish just that. This has been our strongest season yet on road courses, so I’m looking forward to this Saturday at the Roval.”

Zilisch is the overwhelming favorite to win at the Charlotte Road Course. Four of his rookie-record nine victories this season have come on tracks that feature right turns as well as lefts.

NASCAR Truck Series drivers start march toward Championship 4

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series drivers are set to enjoy a coming-out party in Friday’s Ecosave 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Where the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series already have history at the 2.28-mile circuit, the NASCAR Trucks will race there for the first time.

And unlike the Cup and Xfinity Series, which face Round of 12 elimination races at the 17-turn layout, Truck Series drivers will open competition in the Round of 8 of the Playoffs.

Corey Heim, a nine-time winner this season, starts the round 69 points above the elimination line, with his name already penciled into the Championship 4. Heim has led 143 of 181 laps contested on road courses this season. He has also led laps in 22 straight races, a series record.

Layne Riggs is the only other driver who is remotely secure at 22 points above the cut line.

Third-place Daniel Hemric is one point above the elimination line, with fourth-place Ty Majeski, the defending series champion, tied with Tyler Ankrum at the bubble.

Eighth-place Kaden Honeycutt, driving for Halmar-Friesen Racing after starting the season with Niece Motorsports, is only seven points in arrears in a wide-open race for the Championship 4.

Hemric, who finished second to Heim in the last Truck Series road course race at Watkins Glen, approaches Friday’s race with a level of confidence that outweighs his slim margin in the standings.

“I think our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet can be just as good as it was in Watkins Glen and hopefully a little better,” Hemric said. “This is great opportunity we have in front of us to lock into Phoenix this weekend.

“There will be a lot of varying strategies, and the field will likely flip at least once during the day. There’s a lot of variables to manage at the Roval, but I have confidence in everybody at MHR (McAnally-Hilgemann Racing) and on this No. 19 NAPA team that we can make it happen.”

--30--

Chase Elliott’s win at Kansas leaves Toyota drivers licking their wounds

September 29, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — There are no team orders in the Toyota camp. That much is clear.

In Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, the second race in the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the Camry contingent squandered a chance at a likely victory despite lining up in the first five positions for a final overtime restart.

It was a conspiracy of desperate circumstances that allowed Chase Elliott to steal a dramatic win—and automatic Round of 8 Playoff spot—in the final corner of the race.

It didn’t matter that the frontrunning Toyotas of Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and pole winner Chase Briscoe combined to lead 234 of 273 laps. They didn’t lead the one that mattered.

Bubba Wallace, who led the field to green in the second of two overtimes, was desperate for a victory to keep his championship hopes alive. The same was true of Tyler Reddick, Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, who lined up behind the race leader on the inside of the second row.

Denny Hamlin, who restarted on the outside of the third row behind Bell and Briscoe, was desperate to take advantage of an opportunity to achieve the goal that drives him—a 60th career victory and top-10 status on the all-time NASCAR Cup win list.

Elliott, on fresher tires than the rest of the lead pack, was eighth in the running order when caution slowed the first attempt at overtime, but he gave up a row to choose the top lane for the next restart, lining up on the outside of the fifth row.

As soon as Wallace hit the gas for the final overtime, the winning prospects of the Toyotas began to unravel. Reddick gave Wallace a shove forward and then slipped back on the restart, ostensibly looking for a possible run to the inside of his teammate. That option failure to materialize, and Reddick dropped to seventh at the finish.

Wallace nosed ahead of Bell through Turns 1 and 2 on the restart lap, but Bell pulled even and then slightly ahead as the cars reached the backstretch. Driving hard into Turn 3 on the bottom, Wallace regained the edge, but Bell had momentum on the top.

As Bell’s run accelerated, Wallace’s Toyota moved up the track, forcing Bell toward the outside wall and breaking his momentum. Bell slipped to fifth in the running order as Hamlin, Briscoe and Elliott passed him.

At the white flag, Wallace had the lead by a car-length and maintained it through Turns 1 and 2 as Hamlin closed in with a strong run from the top lane. On the backstretch approaching Turn 3, Hamlin steered to the inside of Wallace’s Camry, and when Wallace began to fight back on top, Hamlin’s car drifted up a lane and forced Wallace into the outside wall in Turn 4.

Never mind that Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, also co-owns the cars of Wallace and Reddick at 23XI.

Running on the bottom, Elliott seized the opportunity, matting the accelerator of his Chevrolet off the corner and bouncing off Hamlin’s Camry before taking the checkered flag. Hamlin, Bell, Briscoe and Wallace finished in that order behind him with some of the least-satisfying top fives of their respective careers.

“It went about how we thought it would,” Bell said after the race, resignation in his voice. “Just people trying to fight for everything they can get and every inch on the race track. It was just pretty much copy/paste. The 23 (Wallace) ran me up, and then Denny ran him up, and the 9 car (Elliott) drove by all of us.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing from a manufacturer’s standpoint. I don’t know what more you can do. We’ve got to race each other with respect, and that’s why we didn’t win tonight.”

Clearly, Wallace was just as unhappy with Hamlin’s tactic in the final corner.

“Hard racing, and boundaries got crossed, and got to figure it out,” said Wallace, who heads for next Sunday’s Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval in dire straits, 26 points below the cut line for the next round.

For his part, Hamlin, who was racing without power steering in the final stage, had to fend off attacks on social media. He responded with a post on “X” on Sunday evening.

“Give me a break,” wrote Hamlin, who led 159 laps and swept the first two stages. “I was off the gas 100yds before the 23 let off. I was turning as hard as I could given the aero situation. 11 team deserved that race. It didn’t work out.”

But to quote Clint Eastwood’s character William Munny in the film Unforgiven, “Deserves got nothing to do with it.”

Just ask Chase Elliott.

nascar reviews & NOTEBOOKS

www.nascar.com

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary in 2023, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).

Saturday Charlotte Road Course Notebook

October 4, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Bubba Wallace tries to shake hangover from Kansas disappointment

CONCORD, N.C.—The emotional residue from last Sunday’s last-lap conflict between Bubba Wallace and his team owner/fellow driver Denny Hamlin haunted Wallace throughout the week leading up to Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In fact, Wallace and Hamlin tried to clear the around noon on Saturday in what Wallace characterized as a “good heart-to-heart conversation that came from a place of peace.”

Wallace and Hamlin were battling for the lead on the final lap of overtime at Kansas, when Hamlin ran Wallace into the outside wall in the final corner. The cars of both drivers lost momentum, and Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott powered to the inside of Hamlin’s Toyota to win the race, as Wallace fell to fifth.

“It was definitely a somber week, for sure,” said Wallace, who drives the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, which Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. “I hate it got to this point, the lingering effect, but Denny and I just talked 30 minutes ago…

“It went better than I thought it would. He shared his side of things, and I shared mine, and we had common ground.”

Wallace surprised Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, with one aspect of his point of view.

“Just so you know,” Wallace said he told Hamlin, “I’m not mad about getting fenced going for the win.

“I don’t fault Denny Hamlin for racing for a win, for racing for his team and his sponsors,” Wallace added. “I get the question a lot, ‘What’s it like racing Denny on the race track?’ No offense to them, but I could give two (expletive), because he’s a competitor, and he’s labeled it that way.

“So that was two competitors going for a win, and as much as it didn’t work out, I have to respect that ... My biggest thing is that Toyota didn’t win.”

So what could Hamlin have done differently?

“You turn left and go for the bottom—as simple as that,” Wallace said.

Shane van Gisbergen still elated by top-10 run at Kansas

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen is back in familiar territory this weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series races in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Van Gisbergen will try to win his fifth straight road course event in NASCAR’s top division. Jeff Gordon holds the series record for consecutive road course wins with six.

Nevertheless, as he took questions from reporters before Cup Series practice on Saturday, van Gisbergen couldn’t hide his elation at the 10th-place finish he achieved last Sunday at Kansas Speedway, his first top 10 on a NASCAR oval.

The three-time Australian Supercars champion achieved the milestone despite a first-lap pass-through, an inspection-related penalty that put him a lap down from the outset.

Van Gisbergen recovered to post the 11th-most green-flag passes during the race (111), even though he didn’t return to the lead lap as beneficiary until the third caution on Lap 90.

“We had a little penalty for a mistake, and then, yeah, having to be a lap down, or two laps down we ended up, and coming back was really cool,” van Gisbergen said. “It was pretty genuine, the speed, as well. We were ahead of most of the crashes, and having a really good day.

“So, yeah, I was pretty excited. I've never been so excited for a top-10, but this series is tough on the ovals. Everyone's so good, and it has taken all year for us to get up to speed. It’s just a good reward for everyone who's helped me to get here, the spotters and crew chief. I think everyone was pretty stoked after that race. It was a cool atmosphere.”

Joey Logano returns to site of last year’s big reprieve

When last year’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course was over, Joey Logano was out of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Hours later, Logano learned that Alex Bowman had been disqualified for an underweight car, a penalty that put Logano back into the Playoff field.

A week later, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won at Las Vegas and earned a spot in the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway, where Logano won the race and claimed his third title in NASCAR’s top division.

“I remember the emotions leaving the track,” Logano said. “I was bummed. I was like, ‘Well, on one hand, we did really good here last year,’ so I was proud of the effort that we gave. I was bummed that we were just a little short, but it is what it is. That’s how I am at the end of the race. It is what it is.

“I can’t change it now, and you just have to keep looking out the windshield and we went home. We went home and had a fairly normal evening, and then I got a call and it was like, ‘Hey, honey, you ain’t gonna believe it. We’re back in.’

“Obviously, the next seven days after that changed everything, because we went from out to in to winning Vegas and in the Championship 4 and winning our third title, so just a quick turn of events, but that’s NASCAR racing for you. It’s unpredictable. Things can change really, really fast. You just have to keep rolling with it.”

Logano comes Sunday’s race eighth in the standings, just 13 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 8. The defending series champion isn’t looking past the Roval.

“It’s one step at a time,” Logano said. “We’ve got to get through this week first. This week right now is the most important race of the season for us. We’ve got to get through this one.

“Hopefully, we can continue to be in the championship race after this, and at that point we’ll look at Vegas (next weekend’s Round of 8 opener), but right now 100 percent of our focus is at the Roval.”

NASCAR Cup drivers get first taste of new NASCAR 25 console game

October 1, 2025

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C.--NASCAR Cup Series drivers Chase Briscoe and John Hunter Nemechek approached their first turns on the new NASCAR 25 simulation-style console game with unbroken focus.

Settling on Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of next year’s season finale, Briscoe and Nemechek put their cars through their paces, quickly advancing to expert level.

Developed by iRacing, known throughout the industry for the quality of its simulations, NASCAR 25 doesn’t require an elaborate rig. As such, according to Briscoe, it should be accessible to a much broader audience.

“The average person would probably have trouble getting around the track in iRacing,” Briscoe said, after dueling side-by-side with virtual Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell. “This is a game I can play with (wife) Marissa.”

Set for general release on Oct. 14, NASCAR 25 is played with the sort of hand-held controller familiar to anyone who grew up with Xbox or PlayStation. In fact, the new game is compatible with PlayStation 5, Xbox X|S and on PC through streaming (due Nov. 11) without sacrificing the quality of the graphics.

NASCAR 25 is iRacing’s first venture into the console racing area, and it’s the first to feature four NASCAR Racing Series: NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, CRAFTSMAN Truck and ARCA Menards.

“The is the first time that iRacing is coming to console at all,” said iRacing developer Matt Lewis. “We have, obviously, a 30-year relationship with NASCAR going back to their early days on sim and PC, but this is the first time on console.

“So, a lot of the driving aspects and things like that you would expect from iRacing’s super-authentic race physics are in the game, and we’re really excited to bring it to console for the first time.”

The release of NASCAR 25 fills a void for fans with a yearn for racing who may not want to spend the money required for a full-blown competitive rig.

“It’s been about six years since there’s been a NASCAR console game at all,” Lewis added. “In that same span that we’ve been doing sim for about 30 years, there have been five or six different publishers.

“This is iRacing’s first effort on the console, and we expect to build another 30 years doing console games now as well.”

Even before they played the game first-hand, both Briscoe and Nemechek were aware of its imminent release.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Nemechek said. “It’s a new year. Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to play NASCAR 2002, NASCAR 2003, and I’m looking forward to NASCAR 25.”

nascar cup series

2025 NASCAR CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date	Race / Track
Sunday, February 2	Clash (Bowman Gray)
Sunday, February 16	DAYTONA 500
Sunday, February 23	Atlanta
Sunday, March 2	COTA
Sunday, March 9	Phoenix
Sunday, March 16	Las Vegas
Sunday, March 23	Homestead-Miami
Sunday, March 30	Martinsville
Sunday, April 6	Darlington
Sunday, April 13	Bristol
Sunday, April 27	Talladega
Sunday, May 4	Texas
Sunday, May 11	Kansas
Sunday, May 18	North Wilkesboro (All-Star Race)
Sunday, May 25	Charlotte
Sunday, June 1	Nashville Superspeedway
Sunday, June 8	Michigan
Sunday, June 15	Mexico City
Sunday, June 22	Pocono
Saturday, June 28	Atlanta
Sunday, July 6	Chicago Street Race
Sunday, July 13	Sonoma
Sunday, July 20	Dover
Sunday, July 27	Indianapolis
Sunday, August 3	Iowa
Sunday, August 10	Watkins Glen
Saturday, August 16	Richmond
Saturday, August 23	Daytona
Sunday, August 31	Darlington
Sunday, September 7	World Wide Technology Raceway
Saturday, September 13	Bristol
Sunday, September 21	New Hampshire
Sunday, September 28	Kansas
Sunday, October 5	Charlotte Roval
Sunday, October 12	Las Vegas
Sunday, October 19	Talladega
Sunday, October 26	Martinsville
Sunday, November 2	Phoenix (Championship)