Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway after a late crash collected more than half the field, including eight of the 12 championship contenders.

Alex Bowman opened NASCAR’s playoffs on defense — not of his style of driving, but of his status in the seat of the No. 48 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.

NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were among the first four drivers knocked out of the playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Kyle Larson cruised to an easy victory.

The NASCAR playoffs head to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee this weekend for the final race of the first round.

Chris Buescher won Sunday at Watkins Glen International, leading a string of five non-playoff drivers to the finish in a NASCAR Cup race marred by late wrecks, shredded tires, and busted parts among the championship contenders.

Ryan Blaney thought he was perfectly positioned to win Sunday's Brickyard 400.

Kyle Larson made a late charge through the field, managed to get his car refired after a red flag and won the final two restart battles Sunday before coasting to his first Brickyard 400 victory under caution.

Austin Cindric attended races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway most of his life, dreaming of the day he could compete on the historic 2.5-mile oval.

Ryan Blaney dominated the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night for his first victory of the season and a spot in the playoffs.

Martin Truex Jr. says he will retire from full-time racing at the end of the season.

Kyle Larson was finally granted the waiver this week he needed from NASCAR to remain eligible to race for a second Cup championship.

Austin Cindric gave Team Penske its first NASCAR win of the season along with some much-needed momentum after a whole lot of struggles.

The first half of NASCAR's regular season ended Sunday with Brad Keselowski ending his three-year winless drought at Darlington Raceway.

Brad Keselowski moved to the front when Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick hit each other with nine laps left and held on to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Denny Hamlin is off to one of the best starts of his two-decade career, with three wins for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Tyler Reddick stole a victory at Talladega Superspeedway when front-runner Michael McDowell, swerving up and down the track trying to block Brad Keselowski, wound up crashing with the finish line in sight.

Chase Elliott pulled ahead and cleared Ross Chastain on the first lap after the second restart in overtime at Texas Motor Speedway, ending a 42-race winless streak for NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Denny Hamlin has won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in the final laps.

Daniel Suarez edged Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch in a three-wide finish to win a crashed-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Alex Bowman never saw how the big wreck started that marred the end of the Daytona 500.

No one needs to remind Kyle Larson about his record at Daytona International Speedway.

Another crash has Kyle Busch last in the playoff standings and in danger of elimination Sunday on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Bubba Wallace will start from the pole at Texas.

Kyle Larson led the final 55 laps to start his latest NASCAR playoff run with a win at the Southern 500, his first career victory at Darlington Raceway.

Christopher Bell will start up front for NASCAR's opening playoff race after winning the pole for the Southern 500 on Saturday.

Only 36 points separate the 16 drivers as NASCAR’s playoffs begin this Sunday at Darlington Raceway in what might be one of the closest fields in the history of this format.

Chris Buescher won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, eliminating fan favorite Chase Elliott from the playoffs and sending Bubba Wallace into the postseason.

Chase Elliott is running out of time.

Chris Buescher won his second straight NASCAR Cup Series race by holding off Martin Truex late in the FireKeepers 400 on Monday.

Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Martin Truex Jr. mastered another Monday matinee to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time in 30 career Cup races at the track.

William Byron won the rain-shortened NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

There are seven 90-degree turns.

William Byron avoided a wreck between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson on a restart six laps from the end and held on to win the Goodyear 400 in overtime at Darlington Raceway.

The upcoming NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas in Texas will feature two former Formula One world champions, an IndyCar driver and a sports car star who has a win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his resume.

As the reigning NASCAR champion, Joey Logano had no reason to panic when Team Penske had a slower than expected start to the new season.

Joey Logano dominated early and then passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap to win NASCAR’s race at Atlanta and end the early season domination of Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports.

The ultimate prize on NASCAR’s ultimate stage has eluded Kyle Busch throughout his professional career.

Joey Logano won his second NASCAR championship to give Roger Penske two titles in the same season with a victory in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.

NASCAR has held a second consecutive meeting with its Cup drivers to discuss their safety concerns with the new Next Gen car.

NASCAR says it had a productive test of its new car and promised drivers that solutions to some of their safety concerns should be implemented by next season.

Trackhouse Racing will make its 100th start on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway with drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez still in the championship competition.

Chris Buescher's win at Bristol last week marked the first time in this version of NASCAR's playoffs that drivers who are not racing for the championship swept the three races of the first round.

At least a dozen of the playoff drivers had some sort of problem with NASCAR’s new Next Gen car Saturday night at Bristol.

Chris Buescher closed out a bizarre first round of NASCAR’s playoffs in which none of the title contenders won a race by becoming the 19th winner this season with his victory Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Erik Jones took the lead when Kyle Busch’s engine blew up, then pulled away from Denny Hamlin after a final restart 20 laps from the end to win the opening NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night.

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway was rained out Saturday night and rescheduled for Sunday.

Brad Keselowski likes his chances at Daytona International Speedway.

Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are the favorites as they battle for position to make NASCAR’s playoffs.

Christopher Bell crashed the NASCAR playoffs, winning Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to become the 14th Cup Series winner this season.

NASCAR is bringing its top series to World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for the first time this weekend.

NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 was many things.

Denny Hamlin held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in overtime to win the longest — and perhaps wildest — Coca-Cola 600 in history.

Joey Logano bumped leader William Byron from behind and into the wall on the next to last lap to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Christopher Bell won the pole at Talladega Superspeedway by turning the fastest lap as the final driver to qualify.

Kyle Busch slipped past the spinning cars of Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to steal his first Cup win of the season Sunday night on slick, wet, dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway.

William Byron has managed to hold off the freight train behind him, taking the checkered flag for his third NASCAR Cup victory at Atlnta Motor Speedway.

Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson held off Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez in a tense finish Sunday to win at Fontana for the second time.

Austin Cindric drove his brand new NASCAR ride to victory in the Daytona 500 on team owner Roger Penske’s 85th birthday.

Denny Hamlin crashed out of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, ending his bid for a fourth victory in NASCAR’s premier event.

Austin Hill won the Xfinity Series opener at Daytona when the field was frozen because of a spectacular crash that stripped Myatt Snider’s damaged car to a carcass.

The NASCAR season opens with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, where more than 120,000 spectators are expected to watch reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson lead the field to green.

Brad Keselowski celebrated a sweep of the Daytona duels as he debuts with his new team.

Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash on Sunday on the temporary quarter-mile track built inside Memorial Coliseum.

Alex Bowman spun Denny Hamlin out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway and then won in overtime as the field for NASCAR's championship race was set Sunday.

Brad Keselowski is in the final two races of his NASCAR career with Team Penske and would love nothing more than to close his 12-year run with another Cup championship.

Kyle Larson drove to his ninth victory of the season and most meaningful to date in his new job with Hendrick Motorsports.

A conversation on driver code and on-track etiquette is raging in NASCAR, and with it comes debate about the expectations of non-playoff drivers.

Kyle Larson is the first driver in NASCAR's championship four.

The third round of NASCAR's playoffs are getting started in Texas.

Ryan Blaney has wanted a leadership role at Team Penske.

NASCAR's playoffs shift to Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday for the middle race of the second round.

Denny Hamlin held off Kyle Larson after their cars hit nose to tail racing to the finish line Sunday night in the Southern 500 to open the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Ryan Blaney took the lead from William Byron on a late restart and bobbed and weaved his way across the final seven laps to win at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR drivers got their first laps on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course in practice — and it opened to mixed reviews.

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, building a big lead in the final stage and keeping Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott at bay over the final laps.

Chase Elliott is going for a threepeat at Watkins Glen International.

Jimmie Johnson returns to IndyCar on Sunday to tackle the street course in Nashville.

Roush Fenway Racing is adding NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski as a new partner.

Matt DiBenedetto could be out of NASCAR Cup Series options for 2022 after losing his ride with Wood Brothers Racing.

Austin Cindric will replace Brad Keselowski in Team Penske’s flagship No. 2 Ford next season.

Kurt Busch passed brother Kyle with 24 laps left and won the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday to complete a sibling weekend sweep at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are looking for redemption at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kurt Busch has welcomed the uncertainty of this season as he chases a playoff berth while pondering his future in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott paced the first ever Cup Series practice at Nashville Superspeedway in yet another display of how dominant Hendrick Motorsports is right now.

Kyle Larson was back in the NASCAR All-Star race, and won another $1 million by winning it again.

Hendrick Motorsports’ quest to pass Petty Enterprises as the all-time winningest NASCAR Cup Series race team got off to a good start when Kyle Larson captured the pole for the Coca-Cola 600.

Kyle Busch celebrated his 36th birthday Sunday by winning a two-lap sprint to the finish at Kansas Speedway.

Brad Keselowski made it nine different winners through the first 10 races of the NASCAR Cup Series season last week at Talladega.

Brad Keselowski did it exactly right this time and finally got that last-lap victory, winning in overtime Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Colton Herta has rebounded from a first-lap crash in the IndyCar season opener to win the pole on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

Roger Penske doesn’t want a repeat of the Daytona 500, when teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski took each other out racing for the win on the final lap.

Alex Bowman passed Denny Hamlin on a restart with 10 laps to go and drove away at Richmond Raceway for his third career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Across auto racing in the U.S., approaches vary among the drivers when it comes to vaccination against the coronavirus.

Martin Truex Jr. won a stirring, laps-long duel for the lead with teammate Denny Hamlin in the delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday night.

FILE - Roger Penske looks over the track from the grandstand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, in this Thursday, July 2, 2020, file photo. There will be fans at this year's Indianapolis 500, Penske said Monday, March 22, 2021, but how many remains a moving target based on pandemic restrictions. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer, File)A fully vaccinated Roger Penske is hard at work at Indianapolis Motor Speedway preparing for a full season of racing that will include spectators at his showcase event. There will be fans at this year's Indianapolis 500, Penske said Monday, but how many remains a moving target based on COVID-19 restrictions. Penske noted Monday that the positivity rate for COVID-19 for Marion County, where Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located, was 3.1%.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Joey Logano has won a few times at Phoenix Raceway and knows a good restart when he feels one. Truex blew past Logano on the final restart and pulled away for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 28th overall. Logano — who led 143 laps — won the second stage after leading the final 35 laps during a long stretch of green-flag racing. But he couldn't hold back Truex, who won his ninth race with JGR. Hamlin was fast early in the race, leading for 31 laps until the competition caution midway through the first stage.

Larson wasn't sure he'd race in NASCAR again until Rick Hendrick took a chance on a him. Last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson raced to his first NASCAR victory since he was reinstated from a nearly yearlong suspension. He was hired by Hendrick Motorsports when NASCAR said the suspension would lift at the start of this year. KEEP IT COOLLast year's spring race in Phoenix was a hot one, with temperatures pushing close to 90 degrees. ... Jason Biggs, host of “Cherries Wild” on NASCAR broadcast partner Fox, is the grand marshal.