November 5, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – One week after igniting a maelstrom of controversy with his brutish tactics at Martinsville Speedway, Ty Gibbs held off charging Noah Gragson to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race and the series title that goes with it. Starting from the pole, Gibbs won the first and second stages and led a race-high 125 of 200 laps, but those statistics belie how intensely competitive the race was. Gragson and JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier led 35 and 26 laps, respectively, and traded the lead with Gibbs as the sun went…

November 4, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – After two frustrating runner-up finishes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, Zane Smith finally won his first title in a two-lap overtime shootout. Holding off defending champion Ben Rhodes by .236 seconds at the end of a wild final two laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150, Smith put it succinctly after a celebratory burnout at Phoenix Raceway. “The third time’s the charm,” exulted an emotional Smith, who said he was crying throughout the final lap after wresting the lead from Rhodes one circuit earlier. For the final…

October 30, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Christopher Bell had another miracle in his pocket, but Ross Chastain stole the show with a scarcely believable video-game move in the final corners of the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. For the second time in as many rounds in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Bell won a race he had to win. After beating pole winner Kyle Larson to the finish line by .869 seconds, Bell will race for the series title next Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. “Mom and dad, we did it—wow,” an emotional Bell said after the…

October 29, 2022 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ty Gibbs took no prisoners Saturday with a race-winning move that dramatically altered the composition of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 field. On the final lap of the third attempt at overtime, Gibbs rammed soon-to-be-ex-teammate Brandon Jones so hard the contact buckled the hood of Gibbs No. 54 Toyota. The contact sent Jones, who had taken the lead on the previous lap, into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, and Gibbs had the lead when NASCAR called the 14th caution of the race because of wreck. By…

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form. Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race’s 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger was third with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing’s Brad…

Oct. 22, 2022 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Noah Gragson has led plenty of laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway with three Top-10 finishes in his four starts before this weekend. And Saturday night – at long last - Gragson earned the Xfinity Series winner’s trophy to go with all his statistical success at the South Florida track. The 23-year-old Las Vegas native led a dominating 127 of the 200 laps – at one point his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy was out front by more than 9-seconds. Ultimately it took a strong restart with five laps remaining for Gragson…