NASCAR

2:36 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will have another new team in 2021 — bringing the total to three new ownership groups in the Cup Series — with the formation of Live Fast Motorsports. The team formally announced Friday is owned by drivers Matt Tifft and B.J. McLeod. McLeod will drive the

6:38 PM ET ESPN News Services AVONDALE, Ariz. — NASCAR’s most popular driver is now a Cup champion, too. Chase Elliott took the torch from teammate Jimmie Johnson by winning his first Cup title Sunday, driving from the back of the field to Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway. The win for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet

8:49 PM ET Just call it manifold destiny. Sunday evening at Phoenix Raceway, the coronation of Chase Elliott became official. The promise that became the potential finally resulted in the payoff. The kid is still a couple of weeks shy of his 25th birthday, but to longtime NASCAR fans he feels so much older than

11:22 AM ET Associated Press Bubba Wallace‘s “knees were trembling” when he cast his ballot in his first presidential election. NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver didn’t watch the news before this summer, one of national unrest over politics and racial justice issues. He tuned in and quickly became an unwitting national activist. Wallace successfully called

7:14 AM ET “This was definitely not how this was supposed to go down.” The greatest American racer of his generation is on the phone. Jimmie Johnson is driving home from the racetrack and he is 100 percent correct. This is not how this was supposed to go down. Not this week. Not this year.

8:58 PM ET Associated Press Jimmie Johnson strode into the final news conference of his NASCAR career wearing a black hat with “One Final Shot” on the front. Told he was the first driver in the room after Sunday’s NASCAR race at Phoenix Raceway, the seven-time Cup champion had a quick response. “I won something

3:47 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Chase Elliott had an early setback in his pursuit of NASCAR’s championship when his car failed prerace inspection Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. Elliott was supposed to start on the pole but instead had to drop to the back of the field at the start of the race.

8:05 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Austin Cindric charged on fresh tires to his first NASCAR championship with a gutsy overtime drive Saturday to win the Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway. Cindric was already headed toward the win when title-favorite Chase Briscoe spun with six laps remaining. It brought out a caution

8:00 AM ET The 2020 version of the NASCAR Championship 4 will be hitting the track Sunday afternoon at the Homestead-Mia … wait … sorry, the Phoenix Raceway for another edition of stock car racing’s best-finisher-takes-the-crown showdown. Though old school NASCAR followers still refer to it as the “new format,” this is the seventh edition

10:41 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Sheldon Creed gambled on new tires for a two-lap overtime and snatched the Truck Series championship away from teammate Brett Moffitt. Moffitt was cruising to his second title in three years when a spin brought out a caution Friday night at Phoenix Raceway. Creed was one of

6:46 PM ET Associated Press MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kevin Harvick’s nearly perfect season came to a spinning and sudden halt on Sunday, when he was bounced from the playoffs in a stunning upset at Martinsville Speedway. Chase Elliott won the high-stakes race to earn his first berth in the championship four. The result knocked Harvick,

12:37 PM ET On Friday morning the 23XI Racing team unveiled the long-anticipated news of its manufacturer and technical partner, Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing. But what the stole the show was when driver Bubba Wallace and team co-owner Denny Hamlin unveiled their race car, bearing the number and colors made famous by Hamlin’s ownership

2:58 PM ET Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. — Former NASCAR driver Eric McClure pleaded no contest this week to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and was sentenced to probation, according to a Virginia prosecutor, in a court hearing that was long delayed by McClure’s state lawmaker attorney. The Associated Press has previously reported that McClure’s

12:50 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Picking the car number for Michael Jordan’s new NASCAR team was a slam dunk: Bubba Wallace will drive the No. 23 car when the team makes its debut next season. Jordan named his team 23XI Racing — pronounced twenty-three eleven — in honor of both his retired

8:52 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Erik Jones will drive NASCAR’s iconic No. 43 next season for Richard Petty Motorsports, a pairing of a driver and a team both in need of fresh starts. Jones in August was was dropped by megateam Joe Gibbs Racing after six seasons, while Bubba Wallace and RPM

9:09 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chase Briscoe earned job security for the first time in his career with a well-deserved promotion to the Cup Series to cap a season that has so far been storybook. Briscoe on Tuesday was named the replacement for Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Ford at Stewart-Haas

5:21 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Larson can return to NASCAR competition next season following a long suspension for using a racial slur while playing a video game. He was suspended in April for after he used the n-word while playing an online racing game in which viewers could follow along. He

12:08 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Justin Haley will return to Kaulig Racing for a third season in the Xfinity Series. The team announced the one-year contract extension Monday with a clever social media post in which fan favorite AJ Allmendinger briefly teased that he would be the driver of the No. 11