November 9, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Justin Allgaier’s timing was impeccable. After a pit road speeding penalty and a subsequent spin KO’d the winning chances of polesitter Christopher Bell, Allgaier took full advantage, leading the final 66 laps of Saturday’s Desert Diamond West Valley 200 to win for the first time this season and advance to next week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Allgaier joins the so-called Big Three of Bell, Saturday’s runner-up Cole Custer and third-place finisher Tyler Reddick in the title race. Custer clinched his spot after running third in…

Nov. 3, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – For Kevin Harvick, Texas is the new Phoenix. Overcoming a pit road penalty for a tire placed in his pit box too early, Harvick took control of the AAA Texas 500 as the sun set on Texas Motor Speedway and won his third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the 1.5-mile track in Cowtown. Locked into the Championship 4 race two weeks hence at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick can now breathe easy heading into the final Round of 8 race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, a track…

Nov. 2, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Christopher Bell shrugged off a short-lived brake problem in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and cruised to a 5.635-second victory in Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. With his eighth win of the year—a career-best for a single season—Bell locked himself into the Championship 4 Round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, with the title to be decided two weeks hence at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bell led 101 of 200 laps in winning for the first time at the 1.5-mile track and the 16th…

October 27, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – It took a post-race fracas on pit road to distract from the dominance of Martin Truex Jr., who led a career-best 464 laps in winning Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway and punched his ticket for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race. The 2017 Cup Series champion took the lead from pole winner Denny Hamlin off pit road on Lap 30 under the first of 11 cautions and held it the rest of the way, save for a six-lap stint where Kyle Larson stayed out on…

October 26, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In an extraordinarily wild NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race that saw four of six Playoff drivers have major issues, 19-year-old Todd Gilliland muscled his way past Ross Chastain on Lap 191 and held on to win for the first time in 46 career starts. Just as extraordinarily, a series of wild wrecks that produced 12 cautions for 80 laps did little to affect the Playoff standings, with the Championship 4 drivers still to be settled two weekends hence at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. After the 11th caution, Gilliland drove…

October 20, 2019 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – As Denny Hamlin was finishing off a dominating day in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott stole perhaps an even bigger prize—a spot in the Round of 8 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Hamlin, who led 153 of 277 laps, crossed the finish line .128 seconds ahead of Elliott in a second overtime to secure his fifth victory of the season, his second at Kansas Speedway and the 36th of his career. But the real suspense in the second overtime featured a three-way…