As the 2020 NASCAR season winds down, the stakes have never been higher. With Joey Logano’s spot in the Final 4 being the only guarantee, the remaining seven playoff drivers hope they can make their mark at Texas this weekend. But what does Texas have in store for them? Let’s take a closer look: Texas is a 1.5 mile quad-oval, and this weekend’s race will be called the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500. While NASCAR has been racing in Texas for many years, the track they will visit on Sunday was built in 1996, and began hosting the Cup Series a year later. The race will be 334 laps long (for a total of 501 miles), and just as it was in July, stage breaks will occur at 105 – 210 – 334. The fuel window is approximately 60-63 laps. This year, the Cup Series has raced a total of 12,437.83 miles. Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Texas: Erik Jones 9.00 over 8 races Matt Kenseth 9.74 over 31 races Kevin Harvick 10.23 over 35 races Jimmie Johnson 10.85 over 34 races Chase Elliott 11.11 over 9 races Bottom 5 Career Average Finishers at Texas: Joey Gase 35.17 over 6 races JJ Yeley 33.61 over 18 races Quin Houff 33.50 over 2 races Corey LaJoie 32.17 over 6 races Michael McDowell 30.62 over 21 races Since Texas Motor Speedway is 1.5 miles long, it is classified as an intermediate track. An intermediate track is seen as anything between 1 and 2 miles in length. Top 5 Career Average Finishers at Intermediate Tracks Kevin Harvick 11.72 over 358 races Brad Keselowski 12.63 over 210 races Jimmie Johnson 12.81 over 343 races Kyle Busch 12.83 over 289 races Matt Kenseth 12.84 over 346 races Jimmie Johnson is by far and away the winningest driver at Texas, as he holds 7 wins at this track. Carl Edwards is a distant 2nd with 4 wins. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin each have 3 wins. Notable drivers who have not won at Texas: Brad Keselowski (has won at 17 other tracks) Martin Truex Jr. (has won at 14 other tracks) Clint Bowyer (has won at 7 other tracks) Chase Elliott (has won at 6 other tracks) Tyler Reddick and Matt Kenseth both list Texas as their BEST track. Cole Custer is the only driver to list Texas as his WORST track. It’s important to note that both Reddick and Custer have only raced at Texas once in the Cup Series, where they finished P2 and P39, respectively. Compared to last year, some drivers have seen a big change in their performance. Some changes may be performance-related, but it is also potentially a product of the driver joining a new team who may have more or less speed. This statistic is based on their current point pace. Drivers Faring Better than in 2019 Matt DiBenedetto +205 pts Chase Elliott +178 pts Kevin Harvick +141 pts Bubba Wallace +132 pts Austin Dillon +130 pts Drivers Faring Worse than in 2019 Daniel Suarez -475 pts Kyle Busch -278 pts Joey Logano -94 pts Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -85 pts William Byron -75 pts While some drivers may be doing better this year than they did in 2019, how does this year stack up against their entire career? This statistic does not include rookies, as this is their first full year in the Cup Series. Drivers Having their BEST Career Year Kevin Harvick 6.79 Denny Hamlin 9.42 Matt DiBenedetto 15.30 Michael McDowell 20.48 Bubba Wallace 20.76 Corey LaJoie 25.24 Drivers Having their WORST Career Year Daniel Suarez 26.41 Ryan Preece 24.39 Matt Kenseth 20.90 For those that aren’t aware, the Manufacturer Standings are calculated by awarding points to the highest finisher for each manufacturer according to their finishing position. (40 for 1st, 35 for 2nd, 34 for 3rd, etc.) No stage points or playoff points count. Manufacturer Standings Ford 1225 Toyota 1157 Chevrolet 1120 If this same formula were used for each Team, you could determine which team has been the most successful this season. For some reason NASCAR does not calculate or showcase these stats, but here they are regardless: Chartered Team Standings Joe Gibbs 1159 Penske 1097 Stewart-Haas 1093 Hendrick 1049 Chip Ganassi 864 Richard Childress 845 Wood Brothers 716 Roush-Fenway 715 Front Row 667 JTG-Daugherty 612 Richard Petty 542 Leavine Family 535 Germain 493 Go Fas 392 Rick Ware 297 Spire 228 StarCom 205 The race begins Sunday, October 25th at 3:30pm EST/12:30pm PST. Is there an error? Is there a stat missing that you’d like to see? Let us know!

In a season filled with so many twists and turns it is sadly winding down. Eight drivers remain in the hunt and half of the final four is a compelling battle between six drivers. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are essentially locked in on points, and the races in this round being at Kansas, Texas, and Martinsville really sets up well for them. Martinsville is the "wildcard" of the round, but even then the elite drivers there always rise to the top. Kansas actually sets up as the most compelling in my opinion, and here's why six different active playoff drivers have won here. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick both have three wins at Kansas, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., and Joey Logano all have two wins at Kansas, and Chase Elliott has one win at Kansas. Denny Hamlin has won two of the last three at Kansas including the race this July, and last seasons playoff race. I think Denny Hamlin is the favorite coming into this race, but Kevin Harvick's 9.6 average finish is the best in the field. Texas I think is the most predictable race of the round. Once again Harvick, and Hamlin have three wins here. Kurt Busch, and Joey Logano have a win a piece here. Harvick is the favorite, even though Hamlin won at Texas in 2019, Harvick has won three consecutive fall Texas races, and all of those wins have come since the repave and reconfiguration after the 2016 season. Harvick's 10.2 average finish once again is the best of the playoff drivers. Martinsville as the Round of 8 finale should be fascinating especially if Harvick, and Hamlin are both locked in. Denny Hamlin leads active playoff drivers with five wins, but hasn't won there since 2015. Martin Truex, Kurt Busch, and Brad Keselowski all have two wins at Martinville; while Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick both have one win at Martinsville. Denny Hamlin has the highest average finish at 9.9. Truex's recent dominance in Martinsville including back to back wins at the track makes him the favorite overall. My official final four picks are Harvick, Hamlin, Truex Jr., and Keselowski. Hamlin, and Harvick get wins, but even if they didn't I expect them to get there on points. The round sets up very nicely for Truex to win at any of these three tracks, but I think Martinsville is where he could win and advance on his own. In a Round of 8 as competitive as ever Keselowski's small points advantage will lead him to the Championship Four. Playoff Grid 1. Harvick +45 2. Hamlin +32 3. Keselowksi +13 4. Elliott +5 5. Logano -5 6. Truex Jr. -10 7. Bowman -18 8. Ku. Busch -21

For the second race of NASCAR's Saturday double header at Kansas, the NASCAR Xfinity Series kicked off their Round of 8. Like the Truck and Cup series, this was the first opportunity for an Xfinity playoff driver to lock themselves into the Championship 4 at Phoenix. The playoff drivers fought extremely hard under the lights to grab a championship opportunity. The race overall was a bit dull, as there was not much action. However, at the end of the night, one playoff contender did find himself with a golden ticket to the desert. In Stage 1, Noah Gragson led the field to green with Austin Cindric to his outside. It didn'tt take long for the action to intensify as Matt Mills got sideways bringing out the caution on lap 10. This lined up the field again, and this time it was a wild restart. Going into turn 1 there was a 4-wide battle for the lead between playoff drivers Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, and Brandon Jones. Gragson and Cindric got the worst end of this as they both got heavy damage after getting into one another. The contact put Noah Gragson out of the race and Cindric multiple laps down. Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones led the field to green, but that didn't last long as Chase Briscoe found his way to the lead. Briscoe went on to win the first stage with Jones, Burton, Alfredo, Chastain, Herbst, Allgaier, Sieg, Brown, and Haley all receiving stage points. Briscoe continued this dominance in Stage 2. While Briscoe led, he was reporting a vibration in his car which made the team concerned about the car. Nonetheless, Briscoe was able grab the second stage win. The stage went nearly without incident besides a spin from Jeffery Earnhardt on lap 52. Jones, Alfredo, Burton, Chastain, Herbst, Allgaier, Sieg, Moffitt, and A. Hill all earned stage points in Stage 2. The final stage proved to be a retelling of the story from Stage 2. Briscoe led the majority of the stage, even throughout green flag pit stops which occurred between laps 144-157. On lap 157, Josh Reaume brought out the caution. This seemed to help out playoff driver, Ryan Sieg, as he was the only driver who had not pitted during the green flag run. Sieg was able to get fresh tires and restart 9th. Briscoe once again led the field to green on lap 164, but the run was short after Anthony Alfredo had some contact with Ross Chastain. Harrison Burton spun into the inside wall trying to avoid the two. This brought out the caution on lap 168. Chase Briscoe, along with others, used this opportunity to go get fresh tires. In the meantime, Ryan Sieg cycled to the front and led the field to green with Justin Haley beside him. Briscoe had the lead back within a lap, however, proving that he was the car to beat. Briscoe led all the way to lap 193 when Myatt Snider spun bringing out the caution. This allowed Ryan Sieg one more attempt to put fresh tires on and run down the leader. It wasn't enough though as Briscoe went on to score his 9th win of the season, securing a spot in the Championship 4. Hemric, Sieg, Haley, A. Hill, Williams, Moffitt, Annett, Jones, and Allgaier all got a Top 10 finish. Chastain (12th), Cindric (28th), and Gragson (36th) were the only playoff drivers to finish outside the Top 10. After Kansas, the playoff grid looks like this: 1. Chase Briscoe - Advanced 2. Justin Allgaier - +11 Points 3. Brandon Jones - +9 Points 4. Austin Cindric - +2 Points 5. Justin Haley - -2 Points 6. Ross Chastain - -12 Points 7. Ryan Sieg - -17 Points 8. Noah Gragson - -33 Points Kansas proved that playoff point gaps can be cut down with one bad race. Austin Cindric with a significant points advantage over the majority of the playoff drivers, but now sits just 2 points above the cut line. Noah Gragson, while not mathematically out, finds himself nearly in must win territory. It was no surprise to see the driver that has dominated nearly the whole season clinch his spot in the Championship 4 first. With how tight the points battle is, Chase Briscoe is the only driver who can breathe easy going into Texas. Who will be the next driver to clinch their spot in the finale in Phoenix?

What an interesting story for a race. I rarely am down on competitive races, but I am down on this Kansas race. The finish resulted in fans watching Harvick almost helpless in his attempts to try to pass Joey Logano, and Logano used his master blocking skills to clinch a spot in the Championship Four. Stage one was controlled by Chase Elliott largely, and seven of the eight remaining playoff drivers scored stage points. Stage one was the best racing of the day, and it is becoming more obvious this intermediate aero package works best in cool, cloudy, and wintery weather. Stage two was won by Denny Hamlin, and it was an interesting battle in the closing laps of the stage, but it was at that point I realized passing for the lead was going to be a problem at the end of the race. It was another stage dominated by the playoff drivers, and it tightened up around the playoff cutline after stage 2. Stage three was a mess. Playoff contender Kurt Busch had an engine blow up, and Denny Hamlin made the mistake of hitting the wall late in the run. The end of the race basically came down to Joey Logano versus Kevin Harvick for the final forty laps. Logano used his mirror and spotter TJ Majors to repeatedly take the air away from Kevin Harvick. Watching Harvick try to pass Logano was interesting, but knowing Harvick had the better car, and still wasn't able to pass him was infuriating. Joey Logano's win clinches his title race spot, and he will be one of the favorites at the championship event considering his win at Phoenix earlier this year. Joey beat Kevin Harvick to the line in a close battle that day as well. As for the other contenders...Logano's win hurt everybody except Kevin Harvick. As we near the final two races of the round every driver should race like they're in a must win situation... because they are.

The Roval weekend has came and went, and it was a bit of a let down in my opinion. This year was NASCAR's third attempt at the Charlotte infield road course, and it was the most boring of the three. Based on the history of the Roval with its crazy finishes, as well as Saturday's Xfinity race, the expectations were sky high...and it flopped. Even though it didn't meet those full expectations the end resulted in a satisfying race winner for many fans...Chase Elliott. Stage 1 was the best stage of the race in my opinion. Although it wasn't raining, seeing the Cup guys starting a race on the rain tires for the first time ever was unique. Starting on the rain tires allowed for early race strategy, and when the first caution happened Ty Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto changed to "slick" tires to fly through the field, and Dillon snagged a stage win. Full-time underdog Timmy Hill also earned a career best stage finish of fifth place. Stage 2 had a return to normalcy. Ryan Blaney beat Chase Elliott to win the stage. Blaney was looking like the dominant car at that point in the race. Clint Bowyer who had lead the majority of stage 1 was caught up in an incident. The first two stages of the race featured a lot of drivers trying to position themselves for the final stage, especially those who were below the playoff cutline. Stage 3 was dominated by Chase Elliott, looking as smooth as ever driving through the field. He emphasized that he is among the best road course racers in the Cup Series in doing so. After starting in the back of the field due to an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel, the driver of the #9 Chevrolet used a few cautions, and his skills to dominate the end of the race. There was some late race drama with Kyle Busch chancing his fuel and tires to try to win, but the reigning champ came up just short. The playoff cut line was largely irrelevant during the event. Austin Dillon, and Aric Almirola were not major talking points throughout the race, and struggled to even get into the top 10. Clint Bowyer, especially early on, was very competitive throughout the day, but he finished poorly due to a loss of power steering on his #14 Ford. Kyle Busch did not have race winning speed, but put out a valiant effort especially nearing the end of the race.

All three of NASCAR's National Touring series came into the weekend on a level playing field. All three series were entering their Round of 8. All three series had the same 4 tracks left in front of them. Finally, all three series presented an opportunity to 8 drivers to go out and clinch their shot at a championship in Phoenix. For the Truck series, that's exactly what the 8 remaining playoff drivers set out to do. Ultimately, only one could lock up a spot in the Championship 4. However, the playoff battle was not the only story, perhaps not even the biggest story of the day. This was because rising star Hailie Deegan was set to make her first ever NASCAR Touring series start. Deegan was driving the #17 Ford F150 for DGR Crosley Racing, a ride which was announced later in the race that she would be driving in the Truck Series in 2021. The round of 8 was set to begin. Sheldon Creed continued his dominant performance as he took the lead from Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith on lap 1 of the race. That's a lead that Creed wouldn't give up for quite awhile. Creed went on to lead every lap in Stage 1. Creed went on to win Stage 1 with C. Smith, Hill, Z. Smith, Crafton, Eckes, Enfinger, Sauter, Moffitt, and Gilliland all receiving stage points. The calm nature of the first stage did not last into the second stage. On lap 38, there was a massive wreck on the front stretch which involved Talladega winner, Raphael Lessard, and playoff contender, Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum was the first and only playoff driver to be out of the race. Austin Hill and Zane Smith led the field to green after the mess was cleaned up. It wasn't long until Sheldon Creed found his way back to the front. Creed went on to win Stage 2 and collect another 10 stage points. Z. Smith, C. Smith, Eckes, Hill, Crafton, Gilliland, Sauter, Moffitt, and Enfinger all collected stage points in Stage 2. Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum were the only two playoff drivers to not collect any stage points. In the final stage of the race, Sheldon Creed appeared to be pulling away with the win. That was until his GMS teammate, Zane Smith, got into the mix and actually passed Creed for the lead on lap 82. A couple laps later, Creed lost another spot to Brett Moffitt, another GMS teammate. Creed slipped back all the way to 8th which was enough to bring him down pit road in an attempt to short pit the guys in front of him. Todd Gilliland and Hailie Deegan tried a different pit strategy as they attempted to stretch the cycle out as far as they could. This, ultimately, didn't work and both drivers had to give up the lead which cycled Brett Moffitt and Zane Smith back to the lead. The two GMS teammates battled hard for the lead. They battled so hard that Smith ended up spinning after contact with Moffitt with 3 laps to go in the race. Smith was able to save the truck but the caution came out leading to an overtime finish. Brett Moffitt was able to pull away in the last couple laps and secure his first win of the season. The win couldn't come at a more perfect time for Moffitt as the win locked up his spot in the Championship 4. Moffitt will contend for a championship in Phoenix. Creed, Hill, Enfinger, C. Smith, Eckes, Peters, Crafton, Kraus, and Bayne all finished in the Top 10 behind Moffitt. Z. Smith (11th), Rhodes (20th), and Ankrum (34th) were the only playoff drivers to finish outside the Top 10. After Kansas, the playoff grid looks like this: 1. Brett Moffitt - Advanced 2. Sheldon Creed - +26 Points 3. Austin Hill - +19 Points 4. Zane Smith - +7 Points 5. Grant Enfinger - -7 Points 6. Matt Crafton - -15 Points 7. Ben Rhodes - -33 Points 8. Tyler Ankrum - -56 Points GMS racing could very well pull off what Joe Gibbs Racing did last year in the Cup Series, placing three drivers in the Championship 4. One of their drivers, Brett Moffitt, has already clinched his spot. Sheldon Creed has looked extremely good this season, and throughout the playoffs. Zane Smith is young, but not to be counted out in the playoffs. Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum, while not mathematically out on points, look to have a must win situation on their hands. With two races left to decide the Championship 4, who will punch their ticket to Phoenix and have a shot to fight for the championship?

It was reported this morning by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass that Stewart-Haas Racing has signed driver Chase Briscoe to replace Clint Bowyer in their #14 Ford Mustang beginning in 2021. Bowyer announced his retirement from NASCAR Cup Series competition last week and will assume a role with Fox Sports form the commentating booth in 2021. Briscoe, the 25 year old from Mitchell, Indiana is currently qualified for the round of 4 championship event in NASCAR's Xfinity Series at Phoenix next month and has a record of 9 wins this season. He has yet to make his Cup Series debut. The primary funding on this agreement will come form his current Xfinity sponsor Highpoint. Terms of the deal have not been announced as of the time of this post.

It will be announced today that Erik Jones and Richard Petty Motorsports have come to terms on a deal that will put the Byron, Michigan driver in the #43 Chevrolet beginning in 2021. Sources familiar to the dela indicate that specifics on contract lengths and sponsors are not yet announced. Jones has driven for Toyota for his entire career in NASCAR and will depart Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the 2020 season. He has 2 wins in 144 career starts in NASCAR'S Cup Series and was the 2015 Nascar Truck Series Champion.

Race car driver Kyle Larson has been approved by NASCAR to return to sanctioned events beginning on January 1st, 2021. It was reported last week that Larson had applied for reinstatement after completing a mandatory sensitivity training in response to the usage of a racial slur in a virtual event earlier this year. Larson was serving an indefinite suspension from NASCAR and termination from his then employer Chip Ganassi Racing. There is much speculation as to which team Larson will race for in 2021, with most rumours pointing at Hendrick Motorsports. This news was first announced by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. NASCAR provided the below comment earlier today.

(Photo Source : Twitter.com/NASCAR_Trucks)

It was elimination Saturday for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. As if that pressure wasn't high enough, drivers had to take on the Charlotte Roval, a track that had only seen Xfinity competition twice prior to this event. With all the playoff drama, one would assume it would be the primary story of the afternoon. However, mother nature proved to be the driving factor of Saturday's race. It was a race full of twists, turns, slipping, and sliding. At the end of the day, eight drivers move on with hope that they will hoist the championship trophy in Phoenix. For four others, their championship hopes were dashed. The race at the Roval started as calmly as it possibly could've, given the circumstances. Prior to the race, NASCAR had stated that the track was in "dry" conditions. However, NASCAR could deem the track "wet" at any point in the race if they felt led to do so. Teams had 2 sets of rain tires, but it was the crew chief's call when to put them on their team's car. Noah Gragson and Justin Haley led the field to green. Gragson quickly proved that he had a fast car as he pulled away to a solid lead in the leading laps. With rain looming in the area, teams were already beginning to strategize when to put on rain tires. This call would become clear for most, as the caution came out on lap 3 when something broke underneath Brett Moffitt. Many teams used this as an opportunity to come get rain tires. Gragson led the field to green again. At this point, rain was coming down steadily across the track. Justin Haley, along with others, had issues early on with the windshield wiper on the car. This made visibility go from bad to worse for the drivers dealing with it. Cars were spinning all over the track. The caution was thrown on Lap 14 when a group of drivers all got into the wall one after another. Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, and Ross Chastain were among those who had spun at multiple places across the track. Differing pit strategies would cycle Justin Haley and Harrison Burton to the lead. The two battled for awhile, but Harrison would miss two chicanes which would lose him multiple positions. Kaz Grala, who was complaining about power steering issues a few laps before, was able to grab the lead and win stage 1. Gragson, Labbe, Haley, Allgaier, Chastain, Hemric, Williams, Pardus, and Brown all collected stage points behind them. More playoff drama occurred as NASCAR deemed that Harrison Burton did not come to a complete stop after missing the front stretch chicane. This meant that Burton would have to start at the tail end of the field. Stage 2 proved to be just as wild as the first, and even more so. Kaz Grala and Noah Gragson led the field to green. The two battled for the lead for a lap, but Gragson assumed control after Grala missed the front stretch chicane. Noah led for a few laps until Riley Herbst got to his back bumper. Herbst ended up spinning Gragson in turn 4 and the caution came out with Herbst in the lead. During this caution, NASCAR opted to throw out the red flag to attempt to dry out the standing water in certain areas of the track. After a nearly 40 minute delay, Riley Herbst led the field back to green. His lead was short lived as he and Justin Allgaier would spin as they fought for the lead. This brought out the caution with just a few laps left in the stage. AJ Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe led the field back to green with just a 1 lap shootout for the stage win. Briscoe would get the best of Allmendinger as AJ had some trouble on that last lap of the stage. Briscoe captured the stage 2 win and Chastain, Labbe, Cindric, Gragson, Hemric, Brown, Allgaier, Gaulding, Buford all got stage points. After the conclusion of Stage 2, both Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson locked up spots in the Round of 8. The final stage of the race kept the dramatic pace going as mother nature threw yet another curveball. The rain was still coming down over the track, but due to the 40 minute red flag earlier in the race, nightfall began to encompass the track. The oval portion of the track had the means to combat this, but the infield grew darker and darker. This decreased the already slim visibility of the drivers. The battle for the lead proved to be down to Chase Briscoe and AJ Allmendinger as the laps winded down. Briscoe clearly had the better car on the long run, but a series of cautions allowed AJ to stay in the mix. On the final restart of the race, Briscoe and AJ fought for the lead one more time. Unfortunately for Briscoe, he spun on the exit of turn 1 and thus ending his chances of winning the race. Allmendinger would hold on against a hard charging Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric to secure the victory. To many's disbelief, this was actually AJ's first road course win of the year. Gragson, Hemric, Labbe, Chastain, Cindric, Ware, Buford, Annett, and Jones all grabbed a Top 10 finish out of the Roval. Seven of the 12 playoff drivers finished outside the Top 10. Those drivers were Herbst (12th), Briscoe (18th), Sieg (21st), Allgaier (23rd), Brown (26th), Burton (33rd), and Haley (35th). For Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Riley Herbst, and Michael Annett, their chance at a championship came to an end at the Roval. After the points reset the playoff grid looks like this: 1. Chase Briscoe - +37 Points 2. Austin Cindric - +27 Points 3. Justin Allgaier - +10 Points 4. Noah Gragson - +2 Points 5. Justin Haley - -2 Points 6. Brandon Jones - -5 Points 7. Ross Chastain - -15 Points 8. Ryan Sieg - -23 Points The round of 8 starts this weekend and will be the first opportunity for these 8 drivers to punch their ticket to Phoenix. The battle will get tighter each and every week. Soon we will crown a new NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion.