11:21 PM ET Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Chris Buescher closed out a bizarre first round of NASCAR’s playoffs in which none of the title contenders won a race by becoming the 19th winner this season with his victory Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. The second win of Buescher’s career marked the first time

10:22 PM ET Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Noah Gragson held off Brandon Jones over the closing laps Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway to win his third consecutive Xfinity Series race. Gragson won his series-high sixth race of the season driving a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. He was aided when teammate Justin Allgaier was

7:05 PM ET Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Aric Almirola continued the trend of non-playoff drivers stealing the show with a pole-winning run Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Saturday night race at Bristol is the first playoff eliminator and the 16-driver field will be cut by four. Christopher Bell is the only driver locked

11:45 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR champion Kyle Larson has signed a three-year contract extension through 2026 with Hendrick Motorsports, the team that welcomed him back last season after a nearly one-year suspension. The extension announced Friday includes sponsor HendrickCars.com, which will sponsor the No. 5 Chevrolet for 35 races a season.

11:27 PM ET Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ty Majeski scored his first career Truck Series win on Thursday night and the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway locked Majeski into the championship finale. Majeski, in his 40th career start in the trucks, became the first driver to earn a spot in the championship-deciding final four.

3:13 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin said Kurt Busch is under no pressure to hurry up his recovery from a concussion and that 23XI Racing is not pushing at this time to get Tyler Reddick in its cars a year early. Richard Childress Racing had a full-throttle response to Reddick’s planned

12:49 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Stewart will return to the Fox broadcast booth for the elimination rounds Sunday of the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. The NASCAR Hall of Famer and first-year NHRA team owner will be in the booth for the second consecutive race and the NHRA’s playoff opener,

4:31 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR released its 2023 schedule on Wednesday that includes previously announced races at the new downtown Chicago street course and a return to North Wilkesboro in North Carolina along with only one notable date shift. The Cup Series schedule is largely unchanged from the 2022 version, with

10:49 AM ET ESPN News Services CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Busch will move to Richard Childress Racing next season, ending a 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team could not come to terms with NASCAR’s only active multiple Cup champion. Busch will drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for Childress in an announcement made

7:04 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Bubba Wallace won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday and denied the playoff field an automatic spot in the next round for the second straight week when he held off championship contenders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell to prevail at Kansas Speedway. Wallace, who