After 35 races and three knockout rounds, four drivers qualified to race for the championship: Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. The driver who posts the best finish at Phoenix becomes the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. […]
In the closest playoffs since this format started in 2017, even Ross Chastain’s go-for-broke last-lap attempt to advance to the Round of 8 was unsuccessful. […]
The 2024 penalties report has bad news for some of the newest Cup Series drivers, and good news for Denny Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports. […]
The 2024 stage points by manufacturer report shows what a good year Toyota had despite the machinations of the playoff format making it seem much less successful. […]
The 2024 stage points report summarizes who was the best at racking up stage points to insulate themselves from bad luck in the playoffs, and to keep moving on in the playoffs. But only one of the to four stage-point scorers made it to the Championship 4. […]
When I started writing about NASCAR in 2007, drivers usually practiced Friday morning in preparation for that afternoon’s qualifying. Two Saturday practices gave them time to dial in their car for Sunday’s race. […]
The 2023 Nashville Race Report: Lead Changes features three-wide restarts, (mostly) respectful racing up front, and one smashed watermelon. Caution/Lead-O-Gram As usual, we start with the caution- and lead-o-gram for the 2023 Nashville race. This […]
The NASCAR playoffs determine the season’s champion. Is the champion the guy who wins the most races? Or the guy who runs up front the most?
There’s no scientific way to answer this question, but there is data. NASCAR has modified their playoffs to try to create a suitable balance between winning and consistency. Have they succeeded?
(Air) Gun Control A lot’s changed on Pit Road this year. In addition to cutting the over-the-wall crew to five people, NASCAR decided (by majority vote of the Team Owners’ Council) that they would provide air guns […]
I’d Rather Fight Than Switch If you remember what commercial that was from, then congrats. You are — like me — old. It used to be that an owner was loyal to his manufacturer to […]
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