Race Weekend Central

Brad Keselowski Takes XFINITY Pole in Tiebreaker Over Erik Jones

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(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones posted identical 186.909 mph speeds in the final round of qualifying for this afternoon’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, but because the No. 22 car sits higher in the owner standings, Keselowski will lead the field to green for the first time this season. Jones, who led the first two rounds …

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Tracking the Trucks: Johnny Sauter Puts Exclamation Point on Championship 4 Bid

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Photo: Zach Catanzareti

In a Nutshell: Johnny Sauter passed Matt Crafton just before the field took the white flag to win the Striping Technology 350 Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Sauter led just six laps en route to his third win of the season and the seventh for GMS Racing. Daniel Hemric, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez …

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Kyle Larson, Dakoda Armstrong Lead XFINITY Series Practices in Texas

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(Photo: Nigel Kinrade / NKP)

Kyle Larson and Dakoda Armstrong paced the pair of XFINITY Series practice sessions held on Friday ahead of Saturday afternoon’s O’Really Auto Parts Challenge. Larson led the first session with a fast lap at 185.599 mph, just one-tenth of a second faster than Daniel Suarez. Matt Tifft was second quickest, followed by Erik Jones. Kevin …

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Kevin Harvick Leads First Practice at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch Goes to Backup Car

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(Photo: Mike Neff)

Kevin Harvick led the Sprint Cup Series opening practice at Texas Motor Speedway ahead of Sunday afternoon’s AAA Texas 500. After spending time atop the leaderboard early, Harvick dropped back before a mock qualifying run put him back in the top spot with a lap at 196.685. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Matt …

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Matt Tifft Joins Joe Gibbs Racing XFINITY Lineup Full-Time in 2017

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(Photo: Brett Moist/NKP)

The feel-good story of Matt Tifft’s 2016 season continues. After undergoing brain surgery earlier this season to remove a benign, low-grade tumor, Tifft returned to racing in Sept., making a combined six starts in the Camping World Truck and XFINITY series since his comeback. Next season, the driver who had a part-time schedule this season, …

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JR Motorsports Expands XFINITY Lineup for 2017 With Michael Annett

2015 Cup Texas Michael Annett Sunglasses Credit Beth Lunkenheimer

(Photo: Beth Lunkenheimer)

Friday morning brought the news that Michael Annett will drop back to the XFINITY Series next season. Annett, who has run the last three seasons full-time in the Sprint Cup Series, will join the JR Motorsports XFINITY lineup next season. With speculation that HScott Motorsports will shut down its Cup program at the end of …

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Christopher Bell Leads Lone Truck Series Practice at Texas Motor Speedway

2016 trucks Talladega christopher bell Zach Catanzareti

(Photo: Zach Catanzareti)

Christopher Bell led the rain-delayed practice for the Camping World Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway Friday morning. Running 23 laps in the session, Bell posted a fast lap of 182.556 mph, edging non-Chaser Tyler Reddick, who posted a fast lap of 181.855 mph. Matt Tifft, Matt Crafton and William Byron rounded out the top …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: Looking Back at the 2016 Rookie Class … So Far, Part II

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(Photo: Nigel Kinrade/NKP)

Part I Austin Wayne Self No. 22 AM Racing Toyota Starts: 19 Wins: 0 Top 5s: 0 Top 10s: 1 Average Start: 23.5 Average Finish: 19.9 DNFs: 4 The 2014 ARCA Rookie of the Year entered the Truck Series full-time to pilot his family-owned truck and has spent much of the year running toward the …

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Tracking the Trucks: Grant Enfinger Emerges Victorious from Talladega Chaos

In a Nutshell: Grant Enfinger scored his first career win on a chaotic day at Talladega Superspeedway. The part-time driver led the field to green on the final restart and held on through a relatively tame finish by plate standards to take the victory 0.107 seconds ahead of teammate Spencer Gallagher in the fred’s 250 …

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Truckin’ Thursdays: How Should NASCAR Limit Cup Drivers in the Truck Series?

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Toyota Tundra 250

(Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Kyle Busch won the XFINITY Series race at Kansas on Saturday afternoon, which of course reignited the discussions about Cup drivers running in XFINITY and Trucks. According to NBC Sports, Monday, Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, triggered discussions following comments he made on SiriusXM NASCAR’s The Morning Drive that …

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