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		<title>Latest NASCAR News &amp; Videos from FOX Sports</title>
		<link>https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series</link>
		<description>Breaking NASCAR news, videos, articles, and stories from FOX Sports.</description>
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			<title>Latest NASCAR News &amp; Videos from FOX Sports</title>
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			<link>https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2026 06:30:06 -0400</pubDate>
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					<![CDATA[2026 NASCAR Odds: Denny Hamlin Favored for Texas; Where Does Carson Hocevar Sit?]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-odds-texas-wurth-400</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-odds-texas-wurth-400</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Can Carson Hocevar follow up his big win at Talladega with a victory at Texas? Here are the odds for the Würth 400.]]>
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				<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 15:25:16 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Talladega last week was one for the books. A huge wreck took out a handful of contenders and Carson Hocevar emerged as the winner, earning his very first Cup Series victory. Now that the dust has settled from 'Dega, which driver will get into Victory Lane when NASCAR heads to Texas for the Würth 400 on Sunday, May 3 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1)? Here are the latest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 1. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. Würth 400 2026 Denny Hamlin: +400 (bet $10 to win $50 total)Tyler Reddick: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)Kyle Larson: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)Christopher Bell: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)Ryan Blaney: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)Carson Hocevar: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)William Byron: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)Joey Logano: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)Chase Elliott: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)Chase Briscoe: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)Bubba Wallace: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)Brad Keselowski: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)Ty Gibbs: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Chris Buescher: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Ross Chastain: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)Alex Bowman: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)Austin Cindric: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)Daniel Suarez: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)Ryan Preece: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)Kyle Busch: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total) Corey Heim: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)Josh Berry: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)Austin Dillon: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)AJ Allmendinger: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)Noah Gragson: +11000 (bet $10 to win $1,110 total)Michael McDowell: +11000 (bet $10 to win $1,110 total)Erik Jones: +11000 (bet $10 to win $1,110 total)Riley Herbst: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)John Hunter Nemechek: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)Connor Zilisch: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)Todd Gilliland: +25000 (bet $10 to win $2,510 total)Shane van Gisbergen: +25000 (bet $10 to win $2,510 total)Zane Smith: +25000 (bet $10 to win $2,510 total)Ty Dillon: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)Cole Custer: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)Cody Ware: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)Chad Finchum: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total) The Favorite: Denny Hamlin's having a solid season so far. He captured the checkered flag at Las Vegas, has led 603 laps and sits second in the standings. At Talladega, he led 28 laps but ended up finishing 15th. In the Würth 400 last year, Hamlin completed only 73 laps before his car lost power and caught fire, which ended his day. One to Watch: Carson Hocevar has been the talk of the town since earning his very first victory in the Cup Series last week at Talladega. Now he's sixth on the oddsboard to win outright at Texas. After jumping to eighth in Bob Pockrass's latest power rankings, the FOX Sports Motorsports Insider noted that Hocevar "probably feels like he’s on top of the world." While Hocevar finished this race 24th last year, he did capture the pole at Texas Motor Speedway in 2025 with a lap speed time of 191.659 mph.]]>
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					<![CDATA[How INDYCAR Drivers Can Win The Month Of May — And Contend For The Indy 500]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/indycar-james-hinchcliffe-indy-500-month-schedule</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/indycar-james-hinchcliffe-indy-500-month-schedule</guid>
				<category>motor</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Our James Hinchcliffe breaks down the keys to INDYCAR drivers and teams having a successful month, leading up to the Indy 500.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Fri, 01 May 2026 12:13:39 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[In Driver's Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans. Spring time in Indianapolis is a beautiful thing. The snow melts, the weather warms, flowers start to bloom. But that has nothing to do with it. What makes spring in Indianapolis so beautiful is the fact we are in the "Month of May" — as we in the sport like to call it. When the calendar flips over to May 1, something in the air changes in Indy. It’s tough to explain but undeniably felt by everyone who resides there. Smells are stronger, colors are brighter and there is an energy in the air that is palpable. For INDYCAR teams and drivers, it’s the most important month of the year. The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest motorsports event on the calendar. In fact, it’s the largest single-day sporting event in the world. There is no non-religious gathering of human beings on Earth bigger than the Indy 500. To be fair, some would argue that the Indy 500 is their religion. So, how do drivers and their teams excel at Indianapolis Motor Speedway throughout the month and the biggest race of the year? 2 KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR THE INDY 500 To be successful in the Month of May and at the Indy 500, there are two things that every team has to focus on more than anything. The first is the three P’s: preparation, preparation and preparation. So much of your fate at the Indy 500 — and the crucial qualifying events leading up to it — is decided before the cars ever come off the trailer. The offseason work back at the shop on engineering and pit stop practice, the hours dedicated to building the cars, the countless runs in the simulator — all these things add up and set the tone for how your Month of May could go. It's the difference between confidence and speed versus being miserable and frustrated for a whole month. The second thing is, quite simply, execution. There are so many things you have to do absolutely perfectly as a team over the month, and slip-ups can be costly. Throughout 500 miles on the iconic 2.5-mile track, uncontrollables are abundant and can negatively affect your race, so nailing each element you can control is vital to success. Especially when you need a little luck, too. Let's break down how INDYCAR drivers and teams attack the month leading up to the Indy 500, set this year for Sunday, May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX). WEEK 1: INDY 500 TESTING The first week of the month is all about what we call the Indy 500 Open Test. The Month of May kicked off with the two-day test, which, ironically, was in the last week of April this year. Teams hit the speedway for the first time this season and dusted the cobwebs off before they come back in anger later this month for opening day of official Indy 500 activities. It’s usually to confirm and ensure all the systems on the car are working correctly, so time isn't wasted when official practice begins. This is also a great opportunity for the one-off entries — cars that aren't full-time INDYCAR competitors — to get the team all together at a race track for the first time in a year, if not ever. There are only so many meetings and practice pit stops you can do at the shop before you need to go do it for real. [INDY TESTING: Mick Schumacher's First Time Driving Indy Oval] WEEK 2: INDY ROAD COURSE RACE After the Indy 500 Open Test, the second week shifts to the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which lives inside the famed 2.5-mile oval. This year, it's on Saturday, May 9. Racing on any configuration at IMS is a rush, but when the biggest race in the world is just around the corner, sometimes the grand prix can feel like the annoying little brother to the 500. But it’s not something you can overlook, as it pays just as many points as any other race. It can also give your team momentum heading into the rest of the month. Just ask Will Power, Simon Pagenaud or Alex Palou — all of whom took the confidence from winning the Indy Grand Prix into a 500 victory a few weeks later. But more on that next week… WEEK 3: QUALIFYING AND A LOT OF LAPS Once the Indy road course race is done and dusted, the series makes the teams take a mandatory day off. The garages are closed and all the engineers, mechanics, officials, volunteers and drivers get one last day to rest and recharge before the marathon run-up to Memorial Day Weekend and the Indy 500. Then, the teams get a day with no on-track action to switch the cars over from road course configuration to oval configuration. This is when Week 3 really begins, and it’s all about laps. Practice week has four days with six total hours of practice. That is a ton of track time, but it's because there's a ton of work to get done. Teams will prioritize evaluating any updates or changes they developed over the offseason and then start heading down a path on setup. The early days of the week are focused on the setup for the Indy 500 specifically. Drivers will spend a lot of time running in traffic and getting the car comfortable in race trim. Logging as many miles as you can is crucial. On Friday, the horsepower gets turned up to qualifying levels — it's all speed, speed, speed — and focus shifts to the four-lap qualifying runs that will determine the starting grid and the coveted pole position. Saturday and Sunday are all about going fast and finding out where you will start in The Greatest Spectacle In Racing. The last six Indy 500 pole winners' qualifying speeds were at least 231 miles an hour. There is no greater thrill — and no more nerve-wracking challenge — for an INDYCAR driver than a flat-out qualifying run at IMS. WEEK 4: THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING Once you’ve survived qualifying weekend and your heart rate comes down, Week 4 is all about strategizing your 500 miles. How you approach this final week and the two last practice sessions — one on Monday and one on Friday, which is affectionately known as Carb Day — totally depends on how the previous weekend went. If you qualify well, you work on dialing in the car to run up front and contend for the win on pure pace. Starting near the back? Well, then you’ve got to throw as much at the car as you can to make sure that you can weave through traffic. Because if you have to pass 30-plus cars, that means you will spend a lot of your day in traffic! After that, all that remains are 800 left turns between you and becoming racing royalty! Easy, right?! [INDY 500: Everything To Know For Busy Month of May in Indianapolis] SOUND LIKE AN INDYCAR EXPERT Having just watched the Open Test, I am so excited about this year’s Indy 500. And I've already got my eye on one team in particular: Arrow McLaren. Zak Brown's team is running four cars — three full-season drivers in Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel, plus a one-off entry for 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay — and each has a very different story heading in. Starting with Lundgaard, you’ve got a driver in his second year with the team, and he's coming off a seventh-place finish in 2025 — his best in four Indy 500s. He’s got two podiums on the season but has never finished an oval race in the top three. With a year of experience with this squad, he should be brimming with confidence. Plus, he has the benefit of learning off of an Indy expert in… Ryan Hunter-Reay. RHR joining this team is, by far, the most exciting combo of the one-off entries. A previous race winner for Andretti, he nearly took the W last year in a back-up car for a team that only competes in one race — the 500 — each year. Put him in a program with the resources of McLaren, and watch out. Nolan Siegel, who is the focus of the most recent episode of FOX Sports' docuseries "All In," has a lot to prove to team boss Tony Kanaan this season, and the year hasn’t started out great. But a strong Indy 500 performance can save a driver’s season. And career. Finally, you’ve got the series' most popular driver in Pato O’Ward. Pato’s track record at Indy is exemplary: four top-5 finishes in his last five starts. The outlier was a crash with a handful of laps to go while, you guessed it, running in the top 5. Only Alexander Rossi, another one to watch, has been as consistently competitive over the last decade as Pato, who is fueled by the recent memories of bitter defeat. Indy owes nothing to any of the 33 drivers lucky enough to take part in the 500. But if there is one driver you feel is deserving of a career- and life-changing checkered flag, it’s Pato. But deserving doesn’t make you one to watch. The way he was driving and the way his car was handling at the Open Test, however, is more than enough to put him right at the top of the list of favorites heading into the 110th running of this amazing race. MORE DRIVER'S EYE:]]>
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					<![CDATA[Second Thoughts: No Time to Waste Means New Crew Chief for Kyle Busch]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/kyle-busch-new-crew-chief-nascar</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/kyle-busch-new-crew-chief-nascar</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Can a new crew chief help Kyle Busch salvage what has been a disappointing 20026 season?]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:12:05 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Kyle Busch has a new crew chief. Jim Pohlman is out; Andy Street is in. No one should act surprised over the move. Yes, Pohlman joined the team after the 2025 season and lasted only 10 races. But Busch sits 27th in the Cup Series standings, and that won’t cut it for a two-time series champion. He’s also finished better than teammate Austin Dillon five times and finished worse than him five times, but Dillon sits 24th in the standings. Busch told me and other reporters Saturday that he could see some light in the tunnel, that they made an adjustment at Kansas that worked. But Pohlman was possibly just a little too fiery to be Busch’s crew chief. He aired some of his frustration on the secondary radio channel when talking to Busch’s spotter earlier this month at Bristol. "Just same [expletive] every week." Pohlman said. FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick, a former Cup champion, said that type of attitude, where Pohlman questioned why Busch wasn’t running better after an adjustment, is not the way a crew chief should talk about his driver. "He can be mad at me," Harvick said on the "Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour" podcast. "But talking like the way they talked on Channel 2 after Bristol that week, that was unacceptable. That is the wrong guy." Now Busch has Street, the RCR performance director who appeared to do a good job as the interim crew chief for the end of 2025 with Busch when Randall Burnett announced he would move to Trackhouse Racing in 2026. It was pretty clear there would be a change in the Burnett-Busch relationship after 2025 considering the struggles that have haunted Busch the last few years. Can Street help turn it around? Is it possible he could spark enough of a turnaround that Busch and RCR continue their relationship beyond 2026? Street won 11 O’Reilly races (10 with Austin Hill) and appeared as the best in-house candidate to be Busch’s crew chief at the end of last season. But RCR brought in Pohlman, who used to work at the organization, and Street could continue in the performance director role at RCR, which is a key position in trying to build the program. So this isn’t a change from a known to an unknown. It is a change from a known (or at least as much as you could know after 10 races) to a known (or at least as much as you could know after five races). It should bring stability. [POWER RANKINGS: New Cup Winner Carson Hocevar Joins List] This appears as one last gasp to see if the team can turn it around for Busch, who will likely decide in the next couple of months whether to start talking to other teams or commit to RCR. No one would expect him to want to stay if he’s running 27th. Hopefully Pohlman gets another chance with a driver more compatible to his style. His winning an O’Reilly title with driver Justin Allgaier wasn’t a fluke. He helped Allgaier win that championship in 2024. But that didn’t mean much when working with Busch. If you are the crew chief for a two-time Cup champion and you fall out of the top 25 in points, you’re going to get replaced. Especially when it seemed like an oil-and-water relationship. That’s what happened. It makes sense. Busch is not the 27th-best driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. If he’s going to be able to show that at RCR for future seasons, the time is now to find that out. It wasn’t going to be that way with Pohlman. So RCR made a change.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Kevin Harvick Shuts Down Stephen A. Smith's NASCAR 'Athlete' Diss]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/kevin-harvick-stephen-smith-nascar-drivers</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/kevin-harvick-stephen-smith-nascar-drivers</guid>
				<category>motor</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Kevin Harvick retorted Stephen A. Smith's claim that NASCAR drivers aren't athletes on the latest episode of "SPEED with Harvick and Buxton."]]>
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				<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:56:39 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[NASCAR drivers are, undoubtedly, athletes. Pay no mind to Stephen A. Smith's pleas otherwise. "If you don't know anything about racing, just keep your opinion to yourself," FOX Sports' Kevin Harvick said on the latest episode of "SPEED with Harvick and Buxton" in response to recent viral comments made by the popular sports media personality. Smith said that "getting behind the wheel of a car" is not the same, and does not compare as an athletic feat to 41-year-old NBA superstar LeBron James still competing at a high level, per se. "Come on, man," Smith said about NASCAR drivers. "That don’t count. You're driving a car. "A NASCAR driver is not an athlete." In Harvick's eyes, Smith's opinion couldn't be further from reality. His experiences backed that up. When Harvick was a driver, he experimented with Polar watches, tracking how many calories he burned throughout a race. The first time, he burned 3,200 calories over the span of a race, and Polar thought there "must be a mistake." So they tested it again and Harvick burned 2,400 calories in a race, he said, that was full of breaks for caution flags. In fact, the only other competition that compares to these numbers are marathon runners, Harvick noted on "SPEED." "Any elite driver, they are an elite athlete," Will Buxton said. "Motor racing is not sitting on your ass and pushing a pedal and driving a steering wheel… It is the most extreme of extreme sports." So if Stephen A. Smith is indeed listening, Harvick and Buxton aren't holding back. "I think this is just something where Stephen A. Smith is looking for clicks on something he knows nothing about," Harvick said. CHECK OUT THE LATEST EPISODE OF "SPEED":]]>
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					<![CDATA[2026 NASCAR Cup Series Title Odds: Tyler Reddick Emerges As Favorite]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-cup-series-championship-odds</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-cup-series-championship-odds</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick has emerged as the lone favorite to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship after his hot start to the season. Here's the latest.]]>
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				<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:41:52 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[The 2025 NASCAR season ended on a high note for champion Kyle Larson. For Denny Hamlin, it couldn't have ended worse, as the veteran driver watched his chances of securing his first title elude him once again. Now, Hamlin and Larson are second and fourth on the 2026 championship oddsboard. However, the driver who's emerged as the favorite over the last month is Tyler Reddick. Since the beginning of the season, the driver of the No. 45 has surged to +350 from +1000. He's won five races so far this season, including the first three at Daytona, Atlanta and COTA. How will the rest of the season unfold now that the league is returning to the 10-race Chase format? Here are the latest odds for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Championship at DraftKings Sportsbook as of April 28. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. NASCAR Cup Series Championship 2026 Tyler Reddick: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)Denny Hamlin: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)Ryan Blaney: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)Kyle Larson: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)Christopher Bell: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)Chase Elliott: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)William Byron: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)Chase Briscoe: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)Joey Logano: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)Ty Gibbs: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)Kyle Busch: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)Ross Chastain: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)Connor Zilisch: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)Carson Hocevar: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)Chris Buescher: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total) Bubba Wallace: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)Brad Keselowski: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)Shane van Gisbergen: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)Alex Bowman: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)Josh Berry: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)Ryan Preece: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)Austin Cindric: +12000 (bet $10 to win $1,210 total)Daniel Suarez: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)Michael McDowell: +15000 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)Erik Jones: +17000 (bet $10 to win $1,710 total)Austin Dillon: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)AJ Allmendinger: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total) Zane Smith: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +50000 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)John Hunter Nemechek: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)Cole Custer: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)Cody Ware: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)Ty Dillon: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)Todd Gilliland: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)Riley Herbst: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)Noah Gragson: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total) Total Race Wins: BowmanOver 0.5: -170 (bet $10 to win $15.88 total)Under 0.5: +125 (bet$10 to win $22.50 total) CindricOver 0.5: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)Under 0.5: -120 (bet $10 to win $18.33 total) DillonOver 0.5: +145 (bet $10 to win $24.50 total)Under 0.5: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total) KeselowskiOver 0.5: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)Under 0.5: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total) WallaceOver 0.5: -160 (bet $10 to win $16.25 total)Under 0.5: +120 (bet $10 to win $22 total) HocevarOver 0.5: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)Under 0.5: -175 (bet $10 to win $15.71 total) BriscoeOver 2.5: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)Under 2.5: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total) ElliottOver 1.5: -120 (bet $10 to win $18.33 total)Under 1.5: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total) BuescherOver 0.5: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)Under 0.5: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total) BellOver 3.5: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)Under 3.5: -175 (bet $10 to win $15.71 total) HamlinOver 3.5: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)Under 3.5: -120 (bet $10 to win $18.33 total) LoganoOver 2.5: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)Under 2.5: -190 (bet $10 to win $15.26 total) BuschOver 0.5: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)Under 0.5: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total) LarsonOver 4.5: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)Under 4.5: -190 (bet $10 to win $15.26 total) ChastainOver 1.5: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)Under 1.5: -180 (bet $10 to win $15.56 total) BlaneyOver 3.5: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)Under 3.5: -185 (bet $10 to win $15.41 total) GibbsOver 3.5: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)Under 3.5: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total) Here's insight from FOX Sports motorsports insider Bob Pockrass (odds as of Jan. 28): Denny Hamlin+500 to win the Cup Championship The driver who had the most wins last year and led until the final laps of the championship race will be a favorite in the new 10-race championship format. Many of the tracks in those 10 fit into Hamlin’s wheelhouse. I know, I know, every season begins with wondering if this year could be the year for Hamlin. This season? It really could be. Chase Elliott+850 to win the Cup ChampionshipOf all the drivers who could thrive in this new championship format that rewards consistency, Elliott possibly tops the list. He wrecked out of only two races last year, and he likes this format, which could go a long way when it comes to performance. Plus, Chevrolet has a new body that should result in improved results. Brad Keselowski Over 0.5 winsIs Keselowski going to win this year? He only has one win in the last four seasons, and he broke his leg in the offseason. So why should we expect him to win? He had four top-three finishes in the last 19 races of 2025. If he builds on that, he’ll run in the top three enough that he will find a way to earn a trophy. Kyle Larson Under 4.5 wins This is a tough one. Larson has only earned more than four wins just twice in his career. The Next Gen car makes things so even, that there is more parity. Getting to four wins seems so much more attainable than five, especially in a points system where the risk-vs-reward for a bold move is more dramatic.]]>
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					<![CDATA[NASCAR Power Rankings: New Cup Winner Carson Hocevar Joins List]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/nascar-power-rankings-carson-hocevar-moves-up-after-talladega</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/nascar-power-rankings-carson-hocevar-moves-up-after-talladega</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Carson "Hurricane" Hocevar stormed into the rankings after thriving at Talladega. Here's the latest.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:00:37 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[The hurricane has arrived in the power rankings. Carson "Hurricane" Hocevar earned his first career victory Sunday at Talladega, and that has him in the power rankings this week. Here are my rankings heading into the May 3 race at Texas Motor Speedway. On the verge: Christopher Bell, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace 10. Brad Keselowski (Last Week: 10)RFK Racing No. 6 Ford Keselowski got caught up in the big one at Talladega but his team was able to repair his car so he could continue. He ended up 31st, so his second-place finish in the opening stage added nine points to his total. 9. Chris Buescher (Last Week: Not Ranked)RFK Racing No. 17 Ford Oh, so close. Buescher finished just behind Hocevar, who beat him to the line by 0.114 seconds. Buescher didn’t have much help up front there at the end. But it was a strong run to get him back in these rankings. 8. Carson Hocevar (Last Week: Not Ranked)Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet Hocevar earned his first career victory and jumped to eighth in the Cup standings. He probably feels like he’s on top of the world, and he should. 7. Chase Briscoe (Last Week: 6)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota Briscoe made a mistake on pit road and then got caught up in the big wreck. He finished 29th at Talladega. On to Texas. 6. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 5)Team Penske No. 12 Ford Blaney finished fifth in the opening stage before getting caught up in the big wreck. Yes, that was a theme for many on this list. 5. Ty Gibbs (Last Week: 4)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota Gibbs got caught up in the big wreck but was able to continue ... until likely damage from that wreck resulted in a tire failure and Gibbs’ day over into the wall. He led 17 laps but finished with just three points. 4. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 3)Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet Yes, Larson, too, was caught up in the big wreck. He finished 40th (last) in the race. But he was in good company in that big crash. 3. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 7)Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Elliott wasn’t in the big one and finished fourth in the race. He only scored two stage points, but he was there at the end and in position in case the leaders tangled. 2. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 2)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota A speeding penalty on his first pit stop hurt Hamlin, who didn’t get back on to the lead lap until late in the race. He led 28 laps but finished 15th. 1. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: 1)23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota Reddick finished 14th, but he also signed a contract extension with 23XI Racing. So while that doesn’t add to his total of five wins this year, it probably felt as good as a victory.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Inside The Garage: Carson Hocevar Is Exactly What NASCAR Needs]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/carson-hocevar-nascar-talladega</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/carson-hocevar-nascar-talladega</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Carson Hocevar might just be the future of NASCAR, and his win at Talladega — along with his celebration — could signal a new chapter.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:48:34 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Here's what's happening this week Inside The Garage: Talladega Superspeedway (Talladega, Ala.) — It was a weekend where all the talk was about the future of NASCAR and the change in CEO. Then, as timing would have it, a very important person when it comes to the future of the sport celebrated on the track. The mostly unapologetic 22-year-old Carson Hocevar won at Talladega Superspeedway. He has generated some enemies on the racetrack but more frenemies. His goofiness and love for racing is infectious. His sometimes boneheaded moves on the track? Not so much. But those moves have become fewer as he matures in his third year of Cup racing for Spire Motorsports, an organization that has a little bit of a renegade attitude. "You already have Carson's irrational confidence," Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in his postrace news conference. "He's going to show up in a fur coat on Monday." It’s that willingness to live free of conventional boundaries that has fans enamored with Hocevar. Not all fans, though. There are some who feel he doesn’t treat his competitors nor his equipment with respect. He had the celebration of the win planned where he worked the throttle with his long legs and sat on the window waving and pointing to the crowd. The fans loved it. Some drivers would be afraid to plan out a celebration. They wouldn’t want to jinx it. Not Hocevar. As Dickerson said, Hocevar has irrational confidence. "I felt like it was an if, not when, so I felt like I wasn't jinxing myself," Hocevar said in his postrace news conference. "I was just kind of putting the confidence in it. I knew we were going to do it at some point. I knew we were going to do it pretty soon." The victory also was a sign of Hocevar’s growth as a driver. He came close to winning the Daytona 500 before getting turned on the final lap. "Obviously, the 500, I think I've ran that back about 1,000 times in my head and was pretty confident the next big superspeedway we went to that we're going to do it and take it back," Hocevar said. It was just the second win for Spire and the first in a race that wasn’t rain-shortened. It was a culmination of an eight-year process of starting a race team and building it to a point where it is now part of TWG Motorsports, the group that owns Andretti Global in INDYCAR, Cadillac F1 and teams in other racing series. "Jeff truly believes we can make a championship organization out of this," said Hocevar, who improved to eighth in the standings. "That’s why we're all here. That's why we're all living it. We believe it ourselves. This isn't a shock to any of us. Everybody says they want to win, but we truly believe in ourselves." Several drivers went to Victory Lane to congratulate Hocevar on his first Cup win. They understand the struggles he's gone through and likely view this victory as a sign of growth. As he drove to Victory Lane, Chase Elliott went over to his car and congratulated him. "I’m really happy for Carson," Elliott told me and other reporters on pit road. "He's done a great job. He’s really been deserving. He's been really close a lot, too. ... That's a pretty special thing to win your first race. "I'm sure it'll be a hurt Monday morning for him, there’s no doubt." The symbolism of his victory was hard to ignore. He said he was inspired by watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. race at Talladega and win so often. Earnhardt retired after the 2017 season. And since about that time, the sport has searched for drivers who electrified the fan base. There have been some (Elliott for sure is one of them) but the sport seems to be looking for the next superstar who wants to watch races from the grandstands (as Hocevar does) and has the enthusiasm that the driver gets to live the dream. This all came on a weekend when the sport named a new Chief Executive Officer. Steve O’Donnell said the sport needs to get back to having fun again. He won’t ban the borderline dangerous celebration. With all respect to O’Donnell, the fans don’t connect with a CEO. They connect with the drivers. If O’Donnell is going to be successful in his new role, he needs the Carson Hocevars of the world to thrive. "There's kind of like this big juxtaposition of how sometimes the garage looks at Carson, then you see the crowd up there going ape-s**t while he's hanging out the window," Dickerson said. "It’s going to take stuff like that. "That personality connects. Obviously, it's on the drivers. They're the biggest part of it. It's going to take the teams, and it's going to take NASCAR itself. ... It's kind of like what we've done here at Spire. It's going to take everybody in there to keep pushing this forward. I know Carson will do his part, for sure." Reddick Agrees To Extension Tyler Reddick made it official as he confirmed he would remain at 23XI Racing with a multiyear contract extension. Reddick was in a contract year and coming off a winless 2025. It was easy to wonder if he would go to another team. But he won five of the first nine races, including the Daytona 500, so remaining at 23XI appeared to be a formality. He confirmed to me after the race at Talladega that he had not even reached the point where he personally could talk to other teams, so he didn’t consider any specific offers. "We're trying to try to build something great here, and it's been a great process along the way, and for us to have the gains and the resilience to overcome last year the way that we have says a lot about this group," Reddick told me. "I'm excited to keep building that as the years go by." Gabehart Still Limited In Role U.S. District Court Judge Susan Rodriguez issued a preliminary injunction against Spire Motorsports chief motorsports officer Chris Gabehart. The injunction is similar to the restraining order that Joe Gibbs Racing obtained to keep their former competition director from using his JGR experience for the benefit of Spire. Gabehart can still go to races but cannot perform similar duties to his competition director role. Judge Rodriguez noted in her ruling: — Gabehart took confidential information that belonged to JGR, but there is no evidence (at least not yet) that Spire has that info. — Spire had not engaged in any illegal conduct in hiring Gabehart from JGR. — Gabehart’s 18-month non-compete as far as the competition director role is enforceable. Gabehart argued it wasn’t, alleging JGR breached contract by withholding pay. One of the next rulings from the judge will be whether to expedite and have a trial by the end of 2026 (which JGR has asked for) or whether it will be in spring 2027 (which Spire has requested). In The News — Kyle Busch has a new crew chief. Performance director Andy Street, a former crew chief for Austin Hill in the O’Reilly Series, will replace Jim Pohlman. Pohlman, who took the role this year, will remain with the organization in the competition department. — Cleetus McFarland’s next O’Reilly Series race will be in late May in Nashville, where he will again drive for Richard Childress Racing. — INDYCAR’s Independent Officiating Board has named its managing director of officiating, former CART and IMSA technical director Scot Elkins. Ellkins will oversee everything from technical inspection (headed by Kevin "Rocket" Blanch) and race director (headed Kyle Novak) and report to the board. The board was instituted to keep the officiating at arm’s length from the Penske Entertainment Group’s running of the series because Team Penske fields cars in the series. — Acura announced it will pause its IMSA program following the 2026 season, which potentially could impact the Meyer Shank Racing INDYCAR operation. Marcus Armstrong will have Acura branding for his Indy 500 car as the brand (which is under the Honda banner) increases its presence in INDYCAR. Without the Acura-supported sports car program, Shank could opt to operate a third INDYCAR team, considering it already likely would in 2028 because it is expected to field the chartered car that Honda will get as part of the new agreements with Honda and Chevrolet. Why The Call? Denny Hamlin could not take the wave-around even though the leader, Noah Gragson, pitted before the race went back to green during the final stage. The problem was, the pits were already closed, as they are when drivers come to choose a lap before going back to green. NASCAR does not let a driver get the wave-around after the pits are closed. It allowed Zane Smith to get it earlier in the race, but NASCAR said that was a mistake. Social Spotlight They Said It "He looks like Shamu hanging out the window at Sea World." — Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson on the Hocevar celebration. In Inside The Garage, Bob Pockrass takes us behind the scenes of the motorsports world the way only he can.]]>
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				<title>
					<![CDATA[4 Takeaways From Carson Hocevar's Epic Talladega Win & Celebration]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/carson-hocevar-talladega-win-celebration</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/carson-hocevar-talladega-win-celebration</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Carson Hocevar captured his first career Cup victory and unleashed a must-see celebration at Talladega.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 21:32:37 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Talladega Superspeedway (Talladega, Ala.) — Carson Hocevar celebrated his first career win in epic fashion, probably generating a little bit of concern by NASCAR and his Spire Motorsports owner. So it was appropriate. Hocevar can be a little polarizing as not always making the smartest decisions on the track, but the 23-year-old Spire Motorsports driver made the smart decisions when it mattered most as he outdueled Chris Buescher to win Sunday at Talladega. After the win, Hocevar celebrated by driving the car and hanging out the window along the frontstretch. NASCAR seemed good even though it was a little bit unconventional and a little bit dangerous (but it was fun and epic). "I thought of just like, ‘Man, I have really long legs, I wonder if I can hit the throttle and sit on the door and ride’ and just kind of see everybody," Hocevar said in his postrace news conference. "I just wanted them to get as loud as possible. And I felt like they would if they could see me seeing them. "Ultimately, I just wanted to make sure I soaked every bit of it in. I think I could tell you what everybody was wearing, where every seat was, where every 77 shirt [of mine] was. ... That means more than anything else to me." Here are my takeaways from Talladega: 1: Big Hocevar Win Hocevar earned his first victory in his 91st Cup start. He had won five truck races in his career but had just five top-five finishes in his career. He could have had more but had trouble finishing where he was running. On Sunday, he didn’t make any crazy blocks and used the pushes he got and was able to side-draft Buescher enough to break away and win at the end. Hocevar said losing the Daytona 500 at the end of the race helped him understand what he needed to do Sunday. "I'm so thankful," Hocevar said in his FOX interview after the celebration. "This is the biggest dream I've ever thought of. ... I couldn't have done it in any better way." It also was just the second win for Spire Motorsports, which won a rain-shortened race with Justin Haley in its first season in July 2019, a span of 243 races since that time. 2: Buescher Comes Up Empty Chris Buescher was left wondering what could have been. "That's going to hurt to be that close," Buescher told me and other reporters following his second-place finish. "We had great momentum coming off of Turn 4, really good spot, going into the trioval. "And from there, I expected us all to fan out and make a move to try and win the race. ... We just lost the momentum too early off of Turn 4." 3: Bowman Relieved With Third Alex Bowman was relieved to finish third as he didn’t have many moves he could make at the end and he was able to bring the car home unscathed. He pushed Hocevar to the win. For a driver who missed four races because of vertigo earlier this year, that was a big deal. "The big relief for me is not to crash at a place like this — I don't have many big hits left in me, and I’m tired of crashing," Bowman told me and other reporters after the race. "So I’m glad that we got through one of these with a strong finish, and happy for the team. "They've had an incredibly rough go of it on a lot of angles for the entire season." 4: The Big One Eliminates Seven A 26-car pileup on Lap 115 ended the day for six cars, including that of Bubba Wallace, who took a tap from Ross Chastain and ended up turned in front of the field. Wallace, William Byron, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Cole Custer, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson all saw their day end as a result of damage in that wreck. "We’ve got to figure out how to be pushed better, so I take responsibility on that," Wallace said in his FOX interview after being checked out at the care center. "We’ll have a good debrief and figure out how to make our Toyotas a little bit better being pushed and maybe not have that happen." The wreck elicited some strong opinions from drivers, who spent the first stage of the race trying to save fuel and racing far from full throttle. But when at full throttle, they don’t have a lot of moves at their disposal other than pushing the car in front of them to the brink of wrecking. "What do you want? Save fuel or crash? Pick one. That’s what it feels like right now," three-time Cup champion Joey Logano said in his FOX interview. "It’s frustrating. "You’ve got round bumpers on these things, the cars run stable and once everyone starts pushing and racing aggressive, that’s going to happen. Until we fix that stuff, we’re going to continue seeing it, unfortunately." 4 ½: What's Next NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway for its sole visit of the season. It will be a place where teams could take some lessons from Kansas Speedway last week as both are 1.5-mile tracks. The defending winner at Texas is Joey Logano – who hasn’t won since a year ago.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Trading Mics For Helmets: Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray To Race Kaulig Truck]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/clint-bowyer-jamie-mcmurray-race-kaulig-truck</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/clint-bowyer-jamie-mcmurray-race-kaulig-truck</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Two veteran drivers-turned-analysts are getting back on the track for Kaulig Racing this season.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:00:45 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Talladega Superspeedway (Talladega, Ala.) — Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray are going racing again. Both drivers will have their shot in the Kaulig Racing No. 25 Ram truck — Bowyer in the May 15 race at Dover Motor Speedway and McMurray in the June 19 race on the Naval Base Coronado. Bowyer last raced in NASCAR in 2024 in a truck at Nashville, where he started 11th and finished 17th driving for Spire Motorsports. The winner of 10 Cup races and eight O’Reilly Series races (the series where he was the 2008 champion), Bowyer has three truck wins in his career. He started second and finished 34th in the 2007 truck race at Dover. McMurray last raced in NASCAR in the 2021 Daytona 500. He has one career truck win in 25 starts, along with seven Cup wins and eight O’Reilly wins. Bowyer and McMurray have remained active in the sport as analysts for FOX, with Bowyer part of the Cup booth and McMurray as an analyst pre-race and during races. McMurray also works for The CW as part of the booth for the O’Reilly Series. The two former full-time drivers announced their Kaulig rides Sunday during the NASCAR RaceDay show on FOX. The Kaulig-Ram free agent truck has been driven by a mix of veterans, specialists and young up-and-coming drivers. Parker Kligerman gets the next start in the truck Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.]]>
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					<![CDATA[2026 NASCAR Odds: Pole-sitter Tyler Reddick Favorite for Talladega]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-odds-talladega-spring-race</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/2026-nascar-odds-talladega-spring-race</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Can pole-sitter Tyler Reddick add a sixth win to his 2026 tally at Talladega? Here are the odds.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:33:12 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[It's the case at every superspeedway that anything can happen and anyone could win. And fans and bettors might want to keep that in mind when the NASCAR Cup Series heads to legendary Talladega for the Jack Link's 500 on Sunday, April 26 (3 p.m. ET, FOX). When it comes to winning, Tyler Reddick has done more of that this year than any other driver. He's gotten into Victory Lane in five of the first nine races. Two of those wins came at Daytona and Atlanta, both superspeedways. Will Reddick snag the checkered flag again at 'Dega? Let's take a look at the odds at DraftKings Sportsbook as of April 26. This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports. NASCAR Cup Series Jack Link’s 500 2026 Tyler Reddick: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)Ryan Blaney: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)Kyle Larson: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)Brad Keselowski: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)Bubba Wallace: +1100 (bet $10 to win $120 total)Joey Logano: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)Carson Hocevar: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)William Byron: +1500 (bet $10 to win $160 total)Denny Hamlin: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)Chase Elliott: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)Austin Cindric: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)Chris Buescher: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)Chase Briscoe: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)Kyle Busch: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)Christopher Bell: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)Ty Gibbs: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)Ryan Preece: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)Michael McDowell: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)Alex Bowman: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)Todd Gilliland: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)Zane Smith: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total) Ross Chastain: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)Noah Gragson: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)Erik Jones: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)Josh Berry: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)Austin Dillon: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)Riley Herbst: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)Daniel Suarez: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total)Connor Zilisch: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)John Hunter Nemechek: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)Cole Custer: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)Shane Van Gisbergen: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)Jesse Love: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)AJ Allmendinger: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)Ty Dillon: +11000 (bet $10 to win $1,110 total)Cody Ware: +20000 (bet $10 to win $2,010 total)Joey Gase: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)Daniel Dye: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)Chad Finchum: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)Casey Mears: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total) Here's what to know about the oddsboard: The Favorite: Can Tyler Reddick's hot hand be stopped — especially now that he's sitting on the pole at Talladega? In addition to winning at Daytona and Atlanta, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota has wins this season at COTA, Darlington and Kansas. He's led 199 laps this year, has 74 stage points and 457 points total. In this race last year, he started 26th but finished 14th. Ones to Watch: Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were the early favorites for Talladega but now Blaney is tied with Reddick at +850 and Logano sits at +1200. Both drivers, though, have three career wins in Cup at the track. In this race in the spring of 2025, Blaney had a DNF and Logano was disqualified after being penalized for a spoiler violation in post-race inspection. The pair fared a little better when the series went back to Talladega last fall, with Logano finishing 16th and Blaney placing 23rd.]]>
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					<![CDATA[NASCAR Chairman Jim France Steps Down as CEO]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/sources-nascar-chairman-jim-france-steps-down-as-ceo</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/sources-nascar-chairman-jim-france-steps-down-as-ceo</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[NASCAR's Jim France is stepping down from his role of CEO of the league.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:42:06 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Jim France is stepping down from his NASCAR CEO role but will keep his role as chairman as the majority owner of the racing business. Effective immediately, NASCAR President Steve O'Donnell has been promoted to CEO, while executive vice president Ben Kennedy — France's great nephew — has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. "I am incredibly proud of the strength and stability we’ve achieved across the sport, which gives me tremendous confidence in our plan to transition leadership to Steve as NASCAR’s next CEO and Ben as COO," France said in a news release. "Together, they represent the future of the sport, and along with our world-class executive team and race team partners in the garage, they will guide NASCAR into its exciting next era." France, 81, has been chairman and CEO since 2018 after his nephew, Brian France, resigned from the role. France is the brother of Bill France Jr., who guided the sport — founded by their father in 1948 — from 1979-2000. The moves this weekend don't appear to be sparked by any one factor other than the natural progression and elevation of Kennedy. France and his niece, Lesa France Kennedy, have for decades overseen and through their trusts have co-owned NASCAR, which has had its challenges since its peak in the late 2000s. The latest challenge was an antitrust lawsuit brought by two race teams, including 23XI Racing, co-owned by basketball icon Michael Jordan. The two sides settled in December after eight days of trial, a trial that did not portray NASCAR and its executives in the best light. France was there throughout the trial and stood outside the courthouse with Jordan in announcing the settlement. France, who shunned the spotlight and politely declined almost all interview requests to talk about the sport, spent time on the witness stand at trial talking about his love of racing. He has owned race teams and dabbled as a driver himself. "When I talk about racers, I think that it's in your blood and ... it's something that you really have a passion for," France testified. NASCAR operates stock-car racing series and it owns about half the tracks on the Cup circuit. It also owns IMSA, the primary road-racing series in the United States and a series where France still owns a race team. Lesa France Kennedy’s son, Ben, has long been considered to be the next in line to take over the sport. He most recently was the Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovation Officer. Primarily, Kennedy handles the schedule and oversees competition projects. His new role is the next step in the ladder as far as his executive status and responsibilities. Kennedy will take a more active role in competition oversight, and executive vice president John Probst, who heads all of the competition departments, will report to Kennedy instead of O'Donnell. Lesa France Kennedy has primarily worked on the track side of the family’s NASCAR operation, for a long time, serving as chairman of International Speedway Corp. — a publicly traded company that operated race tracks. The France family, through NASCAR’s purchase of ISC stock, took the company private in 2019. Jim France had a tight bond with many of NASCAR’s long-time team owners. But his unwillingness to make their charters (NASCAR’s version of a franchise) permanent and not tied to the length of NASCAR’s television deal, frustrated many team leaders. The settlement in the lawsuit put a structure in place to make the charters more evergreen, which should increase their worth.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Got Beef: Kyle Busch-Denny Hamlin Back & Forth Escalates]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/beef-between-kyle-busch-denny-hamlin-escalates</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/beef-between-kyle-busch-denny-hamlin-escalates</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[The mutual respect between former teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin has taken a contentious turn.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:18:36 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Oh look, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch keep talking about each other. Where is that eating-popcorn emoji when you need it? Busch’s season is on a skid. He sits 27th in the Cup standings and his status as a free agent after this year is questionable. So it's no surprise that the talk about the future of the two-time Cup champion is a hot topic. Hamlin talked about Busch at length on his "Actions Detrimental" podcast on April 13. Busch then reacted during his media scrum Saturday at Kansas. Hamlin, on the FOX pre-race show, addressed those comments last Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a former Busch teammate, as Busch drove 15 seasons for JGR. Hamlin pretty much avoided the topic on his podcast on Monday. But Busch was on Sean Hannity’s "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" podcast this week talking even more about Hamlin. Among the initial comments from Hamlin were him calling out Busch’s performance, even comparing it to Busch's RCR teammate Austin Dillon — who is 25th in the standings. "Clearly, RCR is not good right now. But you’re a Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmore driver. Carry it better than your teammate then. If you’re the greatest, then carry it better than your teammate who’s won 10 races [in his career]. Find a way. I think that that’s what he should be able to do. But it’s not happening. It’s time to be honest about what’s going on. I think he’s searching. I think that he doesn’t know how to get the speed out of the Next Gen car on a consistent basis." The drivers certainly have had their run-ins, but there had been mutual respect between the two. Hamlin, who has 61 career Cup wins and sits two victories behind Busch, said, "I can’t hold the guy’s helmet talent-wise." And few would think that Busch is happy about getting outrun by Hamlin — especially considering Hamlin was able to stay at JGR but Busch couldn’t get a deal done to remain with the team after M&amp;M’s left following the 2022 season. "If Denny wants to switch cars, I’ll switch cars with him any day of the week, any time. I would love for him to show he can carry it better than I can," Busch told The Athletic's Jeff Gluck on Saturday at Kansas. "In this instance, I don’t feel like Denny Hamlin even knows what he’s talking about. He can bash me all he wants, and I can certainly make his life hell." Hamlin was asked on the FOX pre-race show on Sunday about giving his opinion on his podcast while knowing there could be retribution for it. "I felt like I was being gentle in trying to share the blame all around because I think there’s enough to go around," Hamlin said. "I know this: I was teammates with Kyle Busch. And I know he taught me by far more than any teammate I ever was with. "The reason I’m decent on these mile-and-a-halfs is because of Kyle Busch. I know what he’s capable of, and I know he’s not loving where he’s at because he is a tough competitor. I am rooting for him because the sport needs the old Kyle Busch." Busch, on Hannity’s show, said he doesn’t talk to Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar. And then he was asked about Hamlin. "He has got his own podcast, and he’s been running his mouth lately. So he might get run into again soon," Busch told Hannity. "He’s been telling me that I’m washed up and I can’t drive anymore ... He wants to say I can’t drive this new Next Gen race car, and I’m falling behind and I’m slow and whatever — old-man syndrome." Both Busch and Hamlin said over the last couple of weeks that the bigger teams were able to separate themselves from RCR since the introduction of the Next Gen car. RCR was initially strong, Busch said on the Hannity show, because it played a pivotal role in the development of the car. He also said after his third win for the team in 2023, that NASCAR saw something in the gray area that RCR was doing that it didn’t like and told the team it wouldn't be allowed at future races. "[RCR] were ahead of the game. They were ahead of everybody else [in 2022]," Busch explained. "As everybody has learned this car, the little tricks of the trade, the little things that you’ve got to do, now the Gibbs and Penskes and the Hendricks have got it all figured out. And they are the top teams and we haven’t really come up with any more advancements to it. "And so we’ve fallen behind." On his podcast, Hamlin addressed the Busch situation briefly, as his producers were asking him who is the hardest driver to root for right now. They laughed, knowing that it was a way to talk about Busch. "I was as gentle as I felt like I should have been. ... I’m rooting for him," Hamlin said, before referring to Busch by his car number. "Let’s go 8."]]>
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					<![CDATA[Second Thoughts: Just How Many Races Will Tyler Reddick Win?]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/tyler-reddick-wins-23xi-michael-jordan</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/tyler-reddick-wins-23xi-michael-jordan</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick is on pace for a historic 20 wins in 2026. While he won't hit that number, we look at just how many wins he finishes with.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:21:58 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick already has five wins in nine NASCAR Cup Series races this year. Considering there are 29 races left, just how many more wins can he get? If he continues at this current pace, he’d finish with 20 wins in the 36 races. He won’t continue at this pace. But are 10 wins out of the question? Not at all. That’s because with the exception of short tracks, the driver of the No. 45 car for 23XI Racing has excelled at the others from intermediates to drafting tracks to road courses. And there are only five races on tracks shorter than 1 mile and one at a 1-mile track. The one thing not in Reddick's favor is that Reddick has not been all that dominant. He sits third overall in miles led and fifth overall in laps led this year. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson sit ahead of him in both categories. They have combined for one win (Larson doesn’t have any this year). The Next Gen car, introduced in 2022, hasn’t been seen as conducive for a driver to rattle off wins because the cars are so even and it is difficult to pass. The top winners in each of those seasons were five or six (Chase Elliott had five in 2022, William Byron six in 2023, Kyle Larson six in 2024 and Denny Hamlin six in 2025). Even before the Next Gen car, drivers don’t historically win 55.56 percent — where Reddick is at right now — of the races during the year. The best winning percentage in the modern era: Richard Petty winning 43 percent by capturing 13 of 30 races in 1975. Darrell Waltrip won 12 of 30 (40 percent) in 1982 while Jeff Gordon (13 of 33 in 1998) and Bill Elliott (11 of 28 in 1985) won 39 percent. Even 39 percent would be 14 wins for Reddick. That still seems like a big stretch. Just remember, this is a driver who didn’t win in 2025 and had three wins the year he won the regular-season title in 2024. Reddick, coming into the season, had eight wins in 218 career starts. No driver in the modern era has earned more than 13 wins. Petty and Gordon have the most at 13 victories. Kyle Larson earned 10 wins in 2021 and the last driver before him to earn that many in a year was Jimmie Johnson in 2007. If he gets a big enough lead on the second place driver in points during the summer, it also wouldn’t be out of the question for the team to try a few things during races they think they can apply to tracks during the Chase. That likely won’t lead to wins, but it could lead to the championship. And that’s the other thing when looking at the final 10 races of the year. Reddick very well could have the points lead but even if he does, it will just be a 25-point lead to start the Chase. [POWER RANKINGS: Tyler Reddick Too Hot &amp; Can't Be Stopped] Depending on how the Chase plays out, Reddick might need to race for points at some time, not taking any chances that could result in a big loss in points. That also could be the case in August if he needs to nurse a regular-season points lead. Yes, Reddick is having a somewhat historic season with the most wins of any driver in the first nine races since Dale Earnhardt won six of the first nine in 1987. In that season, Earnhardt won five of the final 20 races (it was a 29-race schedule). Reddick has 29 races left. How many will he win? The educated guess here is he will win three to five more races. Yeah, 10 overall wins is possible and it would signify a great feat to do it. Maybe even more great than winning five of the first nine because it would show the consistency in finding Victory Lane over even a longer period of time.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Tyler Reddick's 'Going to Break' Wins Record in 2026, Kevin Harvick Says]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/tyler-reddick-nascar-wins-record</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/tyler-reddick-nascar-wins-record</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[Kevin Harvick predicts 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick will break the record for most wins in a single Cup Series season in the Gen-7 car.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:43:41 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[We're seeing a new and improved Tyler Reddick during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Entering the season, he had a total of eight Cup race wins — three with Richard Childress Racing in 2022 and five with 23XI Racing across 2023 and 2024. But in 2026 alone, he might match that total as he currently owns five wins through nine races. FOX Sports NASCAR analyst Kevin Harvick certainly thinks the mark is possible. "He's going to break the record for most wins in a Gen-7 car," Harvick said on the latest edition of "SPEED With Harvick and Buxton". "The record is six right now… He's going to break that record." Reddick, Harvick believes, will join the likes of Kyle Larson, William Byron and Denny Hamlin in terms of most victories achieved in a single season in the newest generation car, introduced in 2022. It's a mountaintop he can soon reach because of the changes he, individually, has made, and the upgrades 23XI Racing have put in place this season. "When you get the momentum, and the car's right, and the pit crew, and everything's lined up right, and you have an elite driver — like you do with Tyler Reddick — you can get on a roll," Harvick said. "I think the biggest difference for Tyler Reddick and 23XI this year… they're able to really focus on who they are as a race team." Harvick first noticed that before the Daytona 500. When he was preparing for the broadcast, a crew member told him that Reddick was already out and ready for his interview. That stood out to Harvick as he had never seen that punctuality from Reddick. "That was the first time that I had really heard, ‘Wow, Tyler Reddick’s going next level Cup racing this year with himself, mentally," Harvick said. [NASCAR POWER RANKINGS: Tyler Reddick Too Hot &amp; Can't Be Stopped] Harvick expressed to Reddick that he was impressed with him showing up early and prepared to do the Daytona 500 interview, and Reddick replied: "Had to change. Had to get my stuff together. I needed to be on time." That commitment to preparedness was the final step in Reddick's rise to being elite. He, Harvick explained, was "handpicked by Hamlin and Michael Jordan" to race for 23XI because "his ability within the race car is elite." Now that he's honed in on the mental side and increased his focus, there's nothing stopping him from fulfilling Harvick's prediction and breaking the record for wins in a Cup series season during the current generation. CHECK OUT THE FULL EPISODE OF "SPEED":]]>
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				<title>
					<![CDATA[NASCAR Power Rankings: Tyler Reddick Too Hot & Can't Be Stopped]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/nascar-power-rankings-tyler-reddick-keeps-winning</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/nascar-power-rankings-tyler-reddick-keeps-winning</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[It's Tyler "Too Hot" Reddick's world and we're all just living in it — which is why he's still at the top of the power rankings.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:39:27 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick snapped a two-race winless streak with the victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway. That sounds like an interesting way to frame Reddick, not winning at Martinsville and Bristol. But when a driver has won five of the first nine races, that’s crazy talk in the Next Gen era where there is more parity. So it’s no surprise Reddick held on to the top spot in these power rankings as the series heads to Talladega this weekend. Dropped out: Christopher Bell (Last Week: 9), Ryan Preece (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Carson Hocevar, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez 10. Brad Keselowski (Last Week: Not Ranked)RFK Racing No. 6 Ford Keselowski finished sixth at Kansas. He hasn’t finished worse than 15th in his last six starts. 9. Bubba Wallace (Last Week: Not Ranked)23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota Wallace finished top 10 in both stages and fifth in the race at Kansas for his first top-five finish of 2026. He had run well in most races, but cracking the top five is pivotal as he seeks wins. 8. William Byron (Last Week: 7)Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet Byron ran much of the Kansas race outside the top 10 but rallied to finish seventh at the finish. When you appear to not have the speed of others, getting those type of results is key. 7. Chase Elliott (Last Week: 6)Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet Elliott was sixth in the first stage and fourth in the second stage at Kansas and wound up eighth. Not great but a decent day for Hendrick Motorsports overall with three cars in the top eight. 6. Chase Briscoe (Last Week: 8)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota Briscoe rallied on the final restart to finish third at Kansas. And in maybe a more symbolic sign for his season, he is now in the top 16 in the standings after a rough start to the year. 5. Ryan Blaney (Last Week: 3)Team Penske No. 12 Ford Blaney had an awful day at Kansas finishing 24th. His car wasn't as fast as he would've liked and then he had contact with AJ Allmendinger on pit road. At least he can look forward to Talladega, a place that has treated him relatively well. 4. Ty Gibbs (Last Week: 2)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota Gibbs finished ninth at Kansas for his worst result since the second race of the year. That’s why he’s this high in the power rankings. 3. Kyle Larson (Last Week: 4)Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet Larson led 78 laps and nearly pulled off the win before settling for second at Kansas. Maybe we’re making too much of the 33-race winless streak. 2. Denny Hamlin (Last Week: 5)Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota Hamlin led 131 laps at Kansas and was likely on his way to a win when the caution came out with less than two laps to go. That one was painful but an important sign that come playoff time, he’ll be a force for the Kansas race. 1. Tyler Reddick (Last Week: 1)23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota When things are going this well, a driver has confidence he can rally from anything. Reddick did just that after appearing to be too far behind Larson entering the final lap at Kansas.]]>
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				<title>
					<![CDATA[Inside The Garage: INDYCAR World's Attention Shifts to Upcoming Indy 500]]>
				</title>
				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/indycar-indy-500-race-may</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/motor/indycar-indy-500-race-may</guid>
				<category>motor</category>
				<description>
				    <![CDATA[INDYCAR's jam-packed Month of May is on the horizon as all attention turns to the Indy 500.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:45:51 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Here's what's happening this week Inside The Garage: Long Beach, Calif. — There are 10 days left in April. But as far as the INDYCAR world is concerned, the Month of May has pretty much started. With Long Beach in the rearview mirror, drivers and teams will now focus on the next five weeks in Indianapolis. Yes, some teams could have a test at another track, but for the most part, preparations for the Indianapolis 500 have begun. Drivers and teams have a week to get ready for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway open test being held April 28-29. For many, this will be their first laps on the oval since last May. A little more than a week later will be the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend on the IMS road course and then practice for the Indianapolis 500 begins May 12. The test next week will be pivotal in many ways. Will Power, who changed teams in the offseason, will get his first laps in the Andretti Global No. 26 car after 17 seasons at Team Penske. The Penske team prides itself on its Indy 500 prowess. "That will be an important test," Power, who won the 2018 Indianapolis 500, told me and other reporters last weekend at Long Beach. "We’ve got a lot of things to try. That will be interesting, too. I think about [my] 17 years in a Penske car. "It’ll definitely be something new, but I’m looking forward to it. I think we'll be good. We’ve got some good stuff happening and hope to be competitive when it comes time." Power’s replacement at Team Penske, David Malukas, will also get his first laps in a Penske car at IMS. "Just getting comfortable right before the big month of May [is the goal]," Malukas said. "The Indy 500 and knowing Team Penske’s success there, ... [I’ll] just try to get comfortable, take things nice and slow because we have a lot of time for it and see how things play out." There is a new patch of pavement between Turns 1 and 2 where the speedway took care of a bump by removing the previous asphalt before pouring new asphalt. Some drivers got a chance to test tires there after the patchwork and don’t believe it will be an issue. ECR No. 20 car driver Alexander Rossi, who was among the drivers at that test, had totally forgotten about the patchwork in that area. "They asked me afterwards, ‘How's the repave?’ I was like, ‘What? ... Oh it was fine," Rossi told me and other reporters this past weekend at Long Beach. Defending race champion Alex Palou is looking forward to getting back on the track at Indy. He’s been to the speedway for many events since that defining moment in a career that has included four INDYCAR titles in the No. 10 car for Chip Ganassi Racing. [INDYCAR TAKEAWAYS: Alex Palou Earns First Long Beach Win] Palou did the tire test last fall. He said he didn’t feel much difference at the test, knowing he had won in May. "It doesn't really feel different," the Chip Ganassi Racing driver told me and other reporters last weekend at Long Beach. "I think it's going to feel different when the fans are there and maybe they call you ‘Champion’ for the first time." As with any test, the key isn’t just to find out what works well — it’s to find out what doesn’t. "You're not reinventing the wheel, and you're kind of just seeing is there any dramatic things that need to be addressed," Rossi said. "And assuming not, you're kind of just getting used to being back at the speedway and getting running traffic." Will Talladega Stage Change Work? NASCAR is changing the stage lengths for the Cup race at Talladega, making the first stage 98 laps and the final two stages 45 laps. Typically, the final stage is the longest. But by making the final two stages less than the length of a fuel run, NASCAR is hopeful drivers won’t be saving fuel. In recent races at Daytona and Talladega, the drivers have saved fuel so they could spend less time on pit road fueling their car in order to get to the end of the stage. NASCAR doesn’t see this as the grand solution to the issue and plans to have a test at Daytona next January to work on ideas to encourage drivers to race at full throttle. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won at Talladega in 2024 and has two victories there, said drivers still might save fuel so at the stage break they only need nine seconds on pit road to change tires and fill the tank. "I don't know if you're going to spend a lot of time saving, but you're still going to save fuel," said Stenhouse, who drives for Hyak Racing, during his media availability earlier this month at Bristol. In The News — Abel Motorsports confirmed its entry into the Indianapolis 500 with Jacob Abel, who will be driving the No. 51 Chevrolet. Abel was the lone driver to get bumped from the field last year in his rookie INDYCAR season, but he should make the race this year with there being an expected 33 entries for 33 spots. Abel has been without a full-time open-wheel ride this year but has been competing in sports-car racing. — INDYCAR had a failure in its push-to-pass software that did not disengage the system on the drivers’ cars for the one restart at Long Beach. The system, which gives the drivers a boost in speed, is supposed to be disengaged until the driver hits the alternate start-finish line on the first lap of green. INDYCAR said 12 drivers used it before reaching the alternate start-finish line but won’t be penalized because the system is not supposed to be operable at that time. Only Marcus Armstrong made a pass during that time. Both Armstrong and the driver he passed, Santino Ferrucci, used about the same amount of push-to-pass (drivers got 200 seconds for the entire race) before the system was supposed to be operable. — INDYCAR has hired Chip Ganassi Racing engineering executive Mike O’Gara as the INDYCAR Vice President of Competition for race engineering. He will be heavily involved in the development of the new car for 2028 as well as the technical portion of the rulebook. — Lee White, a former team executive whose stops included Roush Racing and Newman Haas Racing before he served as president of Toyota Racing Development for 15 years, died earlier this month at age 78. White played a pivotal role in Toyota’s entry into NASCAR. Social Spotlight They Said It "This kid is on fire. I don't know if I can cool him down." — 23XI Racing owner Michael Jordan on Tyler Reddick after Reddick earned his fifth win of the season with Sunday's victory at Kansas. In Inside The Garage, Bob Pockrass takes us behind the scenes of the motorsports world the way only he can.]]>
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					<![CDATA[4 Takeaways From Another Tyler Reddick Win, This One At Kansas]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/4-takeaways-from-another-tyler-reddick-win-kansas</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nascar/4-takeaways-from-another-tyler-reddick-win-kansas</guid>
				<category>nascar</category>
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				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick rallied to take the checkered flag at Kansas, proving that he's still got the hot hand.]]>
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				<pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 22:55:33 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick continues to live the dream. Reddick had to think that maybe the racing luck had finally gone against him when his car sputtered. The sputtering made him lose the lead with only a few laps remaining Sunday at Kansas Speedway. But a caution with less than two laps to go re-racked the field, and Reddick was able to rally after a poor restart to get by Kyle Larson for the victory. "Was that nuts or what?" Reddick said in his FOX interview after doing the celebratory burnout. It was the 23XI Racing driver’s fifth win of the Cup season, which is just nine races old. The last time a driver won five of the first nine races was Dale Earnhardt in 1987. That year, he won six of the first nine. Here are my takeaways: 1: Reddick Collecting Checkered Flags Reddick has so many race-winning flags that he probably doesn’t know what to do with them all. Maybe that’s why he gave the checkered flag to his team co-owner, basketball icon Michael Jordan. "If he's going to hang out [with] us, we got to get him dubs," Reddick said. Jordan has attended most of the races this year. "This kid is on fire," Jordan said on FOX. "I don't know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable." 2: Hamlin Has No Kansas Luck For the second consecutive Kansas race, Denny Hamlin appeared to be in position to win going into a late restart only to see it slip away. Last fall, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver tangled with a car he owns — that of 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, which ultimately allowed Chase Elliott to win. He took the inside for the overtime restart on Sunday and that bit him, as Larson made the move from restarting third to the inside to take the lead. Hamlin got shuffled back and finished fourth. It wasn’t the first time Larson has executed that move on Hamlin. "I’ve got to learn from those mistakes that I make, not executing those last few laps," Hamlin said on FOX. 3: Larson Winless Streak Continues Kyle Larson, the 2025 Cup champion, saw his winless streak extend to 33 races, with his last win coming at Kansas nearly a year ago. It looked like Larson was going to steal a victory with his late-race move, but once Reddick could collect his car following the chaotic initial restart, Larson had nothing to hold off Reddick. Larson finished second in the opening stage and won the second stage. "We're getting closer," Larson said on FOX. "We'll keep trying." 4: Cody Ware Flat Brings Out Caution Cody Ware had a flat tire and as he started to spin up the track, NASCAR threw the caution with less than two laps remaining. Hamlin would have won but didn’t. Christopher Bell would have had a solid finish, but he was the victim of contact with Reddick on the restart and ended up 20th. Chase Briscoe was the big winner (other than Reddick) as he went from 10th to third in the final two laps. 4 ½: What’s Next Talladega is what’s next, meaning potential chaos, as the high speeds and tight packs often lead to brutal, big wrecks. And in case you’re wondering, Reddick does have a win at Talladega. He captured the victory in the Spring 2024 race for 23XI Racing.]]>
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					<![CDATA[Tyler Reddick, Michael Jordan Find Victory Lane Once Again]]>
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				<link>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/tyler-reddick-michael-jordan-find-victory-lane-kansas</link>
				<guid>https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/tyler-reddick-michael-jordan-find-victory-lane-kansas</guid>
				<category>other</category>
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				    <![CDATA[Tyler Reddick became the fourth driver to win five of the first nine NASCAR Cup Series races in a season and the first in nearly four decades on Sunday at Kansas Speedway.]]>
				</description>
				<pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:40:53 -0400</pubDate>
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				    <![CDATA[NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick is riding the kind of Cup Series hot streak that Michael Jordan once enjoyed in his playing days. Oh, you can bet the NBA Hall of Famer is enjoying this one, too. Reddick roared by Kyle Larson on the final lap of overtime to win at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, becoming the fourth driver to win five of the first nine races in NASCAR's top series in a season. Chase Briscoe wound up third while Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing along with Jordan, had to watch from fourth as his driver reached victory lane yet again. "This kid is on fire. I don’t know what to say. I don’t think I can cool him down," Jordan said. "When you win it’s always fun, and right now it’s fun for everybody at 23XI. Me being here and being able to see all the wins, I am so happy for the team." All four of the 23XI cars finished in the top 15 on a banner day for the team. "Got to deliver for the boss man," Reddick said of Jordan. "If he's going to come hang out with us, we have to get him dubs." Sunday's race had been caution-free except for stage breaks until Cody Ware spun as the white flag was about to fly. Hamlin was leading at that point, and it looked as if he was about to win his record-extending fifth race at Kansas. Instead, all of the leaders had to pit, and even though Hamlin beat Reddick off pit road, the field was bunched up for the overtime restart. Larson, trying to end a 32-race winless streak, lined up behind Hamlin on the inside, and he launched to the lead when the green flag flew. Chaos ensued behind them as Christopher Bell bounced off Reddick and Hamlin and the No. 5 car began to pull away. Reddick came charging down the backstretch on the final lap, though, and he pulled alongside Larson as they went through the final corners. The No. 45 edged ahead as the checkered flag flew, and Jordan began to pump his fist in the pits in celebration. The last driver to win five of the first nine Cup Series races was Dale Earnhardt in 1987. "Just really blessed with the late caution," Reddick said. "Was that nuts or what? I couldn't believe it." Hamlin was happy Reddick won again. But it came at his expense, and he was decidedly unhappy about that. Asked of his frustration level, Hamlin replied: "Obviously, it's not winning. It's Cody Ware, six laps down, wrecking. I don't know. Add it up." Larson, the defending race winner, said his car's balance was off after taking two tires on the final stop, leaving him on the podium for the third time without a win this season. Briscoe and Hamlin were followed across by another 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace. "It was good execution for the restart there," Larson said. "I got to the lead and I thought I could cruise right there to the checkered." Except that Reddick is the only one who seems to be doing that these days. Even when he doesn't win, he's had his Toyota running up front. He was fourth last week at Bristol and has been in the top 15 in every start this season. He's a big reason Toyota is the first manufacturer since Chevrolet in 2007 to win seven of the first nine races in a season. "I just think the whole team all year has been really poised," 23XI President Steve Lauletta said. "It's not the first time we've had any kind of adversity come at us, and they've continued to stay calm, keep each other grounded and know we have a fast car. And if you have a fast car, all you have to do is make sure you execute, and that's what they've managed to do." Reporting by The Associated Press.]]>
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