NASCAR

7:52 PM ET Associated Press DARLINGTON, S.C. — This was a 400-mile drive unlike any other in modern day NASCAR. The grandstands were completely empty. There wasn’t a single tailgate inside the track. Everyone wore face coverings — some with the team logos, others opting for plain disposable medical masks. It was nothing close to

10:47 PM ET The hours leading up to Sunday’s 400-mile race at Darlington Raceway — actually, the months leading up to it — were so strange. The moments immediately following the event, as Kevin Harvick reached a rarely achieved career milestone and did his celebratory donuts in front of an empty grandstand, they too were

11:09 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Alex Bowman has signed a one-year contract extension to remain with Hendrick Motorsports through 2021. The announcement Saturday came the day before NASCAR resumes its season at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Bowman goes into the event already qualified for the playoffs as winner at California on

4:22 PM ET Associated Press NASCAR has yet to receive the green light to race in Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Wolf says he spoke to NASCAR officials about the status of the June 27 and 28 races at Pocono Raceway. The stock car series announced this week it will stick to Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and

May 2, 2020 Kevin Matz NASCAR is back in action this Sunday (3:30 pm ET) at Darlington Raceway. It’s been nine weeks since drivers turned laps during a live competition, with Darlington the first stop on a modified schedule that seeks to complete a full season by November. NASCAR has implemented format changes that will

9:06 PM ET Associated Press Brad Keselowski celebrated his first pole win of the season — and perhaps the most memorable of his career — from afar. After waiting nearly a full hour Thursday evening, the Team Penske driver watched NASCAR’s chief scorer, Kyle McKinney, finally pluck the No. 1 ball out of a random

May 14, 2020 Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR champion Kyle Busch will sprint back into competition when the season resumes by running all seven races that have been scheduled over an 11-day span. Busch will drive his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota on Sunday when the Cup series season resumes at Darlington Raceway and

May 14, 2020 ESPN News Services CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It will be a summer in the South for NASCAR, as the stock car series announced Thursday it will stick to Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Florida and Alabama for June races — all of them without fans. NASCAR has now set plans for 20 races — including

9:14 PM ET It was a month ago when Kerry Tharp’s phone rang. The area code was a familiar one: 386, Daytona Beach, Florida. The man known throughout the racing world as “The Commander” is in his fifth year as president of Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s old-school equivalent to Fenway Park or Lambeau Field and a

3:35 PM ET Ryan Newman doesn’t remember his Feb. 17 crash at the finish of the Daytona 500, but he greatly appreciates the outpouring of support that continues to come from those who will never be able to forget the images of the frightening accident. “I feel like a complete walking miracle,” he said Thursday.

5:02 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Denny Hamlin closed NASCAR’s iRacing Series with a victory at a simulation of throwback North Wilkesboro Speedway. The Daytona 500 winner was instrumental in organizing his fellow Cup drivers for the invitational series that started after the series was suspended. Hamlin, who races barefoot on a top-of-the-line

10:47 PM ET Associated Press Kyle Larson has returned to racing for the first time since he was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing for using a racial slur in an iRacing event last month. Larson was one of 48 drivers attempting to make the main event Friday night in the World of Outlaws race at

2:52 PM ET Jimmie Johnson has been hunkered down during the coronavirus pandemic, logging virtual practice laps for what should be an unpredictable first race back for NASCAR, and reflecting on what could have been and what might still be for what is supposed to be his final full-time season behind the wheel. “It’s going

12:54 PM ET ESPN News Services With NASCAR set to resume racing with four Cup Series events later this month, officials announced Friday three races at other tracks that were being replaced in the 2020 schedule. Races at Chicagoland Speedway and Sonoma Raceway and Richmond Raceway’s spring event are off the calendar for 2020. “Due

8:31 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPNW Writer Angela Ruch was just getting the hang of the life of a full-time driver on the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. In two races this year, she finished in 28th and 24th. The driver of the No. 00 Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet, she felt was poised for

5:08 PM ET Associated Press Kyle Larson plans to race again Friday night in a World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway. The dirt track in Iowa will not have spectators at the event because of the coronavirus pandemic. Larson was fired three weeks ago by Chip Ganassi Racing for using s racial slur while

3:34 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — William Byron showed he’s the sharpest gamer in NASCAR’s iRacing Series with his third victory in four events. Byron passed Timmy Hill with seven laps remaining at virtual Dover International Speedway, where NASCAR was scheduled to actually race Sunday, to win yet again on the iRacing platform.

9:18 PM ET High school students in one Florida county will literally cross the finish line on their high-school years when they receive their diplomas on the finish line at Daytona International Speedway. Meanwhile, students in a Texas county will fittingly celebrate their graduation in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway, with family members watching