Latest news with #TeamPenske
11 hours ago
- Automotive
NASCAR's Cup Series to debut In-Season Challenge as $1 million backdrop to points race for title
HAMPTON, Ga. -- The debut of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge in Saturday night's Cup Series race in Atlanta generated differing opinions and expectations from drivers. After all, there's a points race to attend to. Every team's top priority is qualifying for the playoffs and trying to win the championship. Some drivers acknowledge they simply haven't paid attention to the new race within the race. Joey Logano says he sees no reason to view the new tournament as a distraction. 'If there's something to win, you want to go win it,' Logano said Friday before winning the pole for Saturday night's race in his Team Penske Ford. Denny Hamlin is the No. 1 seed in the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament. Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, is the No. 2 seed. A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. Briscoe said Friday he felt 'definitely a sigh of relief, you know, just a weight off your shoulders' following last week's win. He said that sense of relief was shortlived. 'I'm expected to win multiple races, not just one,' Briscoe said. 'It's a sense of relief, but also more pressure because now they know you can win.' NASCAR hopes the tournament generates mid-season interest. The single-elimination format cuts the field to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Many drivers expect their interest in the tournament will increase after Saturday night's race. 'I think some of the drivers have been kind of dismissive over the bracket challenge,' said Brad Keselowski, who enters the race No. 30 in the points standings and in need of a win in Atlanta to earn a playoff spot in his RFK Racing Ford. 'I think it'll become a lot more real, whether it be for the drivers or for the media or the fans, as it progresses into the later rounds over the next few weeks,' Keselowski said. Added Ricky Stenhouse, who is 24th in the points race, of the new tournament: 'It's cool. I think after this weekend you'll have a little better idea of what you have. Our main goal in Atlanta is winning and getting into the playoffs.' Team Penske claimed four of the top five qualifying positions and Ford claimed all of the top five spots. Logano was first at 178.960 mph, tying Josh Berry, who drives for Wood Brothers but has a technical alliance with Team Penske. Ryan Blaney qualified third and Austin Cindric was one spot back for Team Penske, while Ryan Preece, in another Ford for RFK Racing, was fifth. 'It definitely helps at the start for sure,' Logano said. 'Being at the front and controlling the race is the thing for sure.' Briscoe is facing No. 31 seed Noah Gragson in the first bracket. He says it's a difficult matchup, in part because 'he's actually probably my best friend on the circuit … and my son's favorite driver.' Briscoe said his 3-year-old son, Brooks, thinks of Gragson 'like that uncle that just you take your kid to, and he has Pop-Tarts and ice cream and everything else when he's with them.' Added Briscoe: 'Hopefully I'll win. If not I'll never here the end of it from Noah or my son.' Briscoe posted a photo on his X account of his son's bracket. The photo shows the smiling Brooks holding a bracket with his father's No. 19 winning every round of the tournament. Chase Elliott has a special paint scheme on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that was designed by 11-year-old cancer patient Rhealynn Mills. Elliott chose Mills' design to highlight his foundation's efforts to raise money for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Elliott said the 'Design to Drive' program has raised $500,000 for the children's hospital. 'The only bad thing is I feel like we've crashed every time we've done it,' Elliott said, adding his sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, deserved credit 'for giving up the car' so the paint scheme could instead feature Mills' design. EchoPark Speedway is the new name for the track that was still known as Atlanta Motor Speedway in February when Christopher Bell won while leading only the final lap in overtime. It's the home track for Elliott, from Dawsonville, Georgia, and he acknowledged seeing the name change and the new green paint 'was different for me. I think it's fine.' Ryan Blaney is the favorite (+800) to win the race, per BetMGM Sportsbook. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, each at +1000, were next.
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Joey Logano wins Cup Series pole in Atlanta on tiebreaker
June 28 - HAMPTON, Ga. -- Joey Logano led an armada of Fords into the top eight starting spots for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Logano clocked in at 30.979 seconds (178.960 mph) in Friday's qualifying session to secure his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his third at EchoPark and the 32nd of his career. Logano matched the time posted earlier by Josh Berry of Wood Brothers Racing, but the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford got the nod for the pole on an owner points tiebreaker. Ryan Blaney posted the third-fastest lap at 178.937 mph, followed by Austin Cindric at 178.626 mph, as Team Penske drivers and the Penske affiliate Wood Brothers locked out the first two rows for Sunday's race, the opening round of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge. Logano faces ninth-place qualifier Alex Bowman in the first round. "Being up front and controlling this race is the name of the game," said Logano, who won last year's second Atlanta race, which was held in September. "If you can get up there and solidify the top position, I feel like you can stay there. The thing is, there are a lot of 'What ifs?' that play out in this race, a lot of cautions that may be timed in a different way, where it can jumble up the field. "It's hard to say you're going to be leading every lap... The good thing is that we controlled what we could today. I'm super proud of Team Penske, Roush Yates (Engines), Ford, obviously to keep our Mustangs up there. It really shows the ability to repeat from car to car, which is really hard to do. "We tied with the 21 (Berry) and the other cars were within a couple hundredths of a second." Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer and Zane Smith completed the Ford sweep of the top eight starting spots. Bowman drove the fastest Chevrolet to ninth on the grid, and Pocono Raceway winner Chase Briscoe was 10th in the quickest Toyota. Denny Hamlin, top seed in the In-Season Challenge, qualified 33rd but expects his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to fare better in race trim. Nevertheless, Hamlin starts 19 spots behind Ty Dillon, the driver he has to beat to advance to the second round of the tournament. Briscoe, the second seed, starts 17 positions ahead of close friend Noah Gragson, his first-round opponent. Qualifying was interrupted by a 30-minute lightning hold, but no rain hit the track despite storms in the area. --Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media
NBC Sports
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Atlanta Cup starting lineup: Joey Logano wins pole as Fords dominate qualifying
HAMPTON, Ga. — Joey Logano will start on the pole for Saturday night's Cup race at EchoPark Speedway, as Fords took the top eight spots in the 40-car field. He claimed the top starting spot with a lap of 178.960 mph. It is Logano's first pole of the season and 32nd of his Cup career. MORE: Cup starting lineup For the second Atlanta race in a row, Team Penske and its affiliate, Wood Brothers Racing, grabbed the top four starting positions. Dustin Long, Josh Berry, who drives for the Wood Brothers, will start next to Logano on the front row. Berry posted the same lap time as Logano but Logano got the pole because ties are broken by car owner points. Logano's car ranks higher than Berry's car in the owner standings. Team Penske's Ryan Blaney will start third after a lap of 178.937 mph, and teammate Austin Cindric qualified fourth with a lap of 178.626 mph. Ryan Preece, who drives for RFK Racing, qualified fifth at 178.092. He was followed by teammate Brad Keselowski (177.960 mph), Cole Custer (177.949) and Zane Smith (177.920). Alex Bowman (177.675) will start ninth as the top Chevrolet in qualifying. Pocono winner Chase Briscoe qualified 10th with a lap of 177.635 mph and is the top Toyota. The green flag for Saturday's race is scheduled to wave at 7:19 p.m. ET on TNT and TruTV
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Joey Logano Reveals Terrifying Moment at Track Before Pocono
Joey Logano Reveals Terrifying Moment at Track Before Pocono originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Joey Logano finished 16th on Sunday at Pocono and The Tricky Triangle. Through 17 races, the three-time Cup Series champion has recorded 11 top 20s, four of them inside the top 10, including his win at Texas Motor Speedway in early May. Advertisement On Tuesday, the Team Penske driver made his regular weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio for his "Behind the Wheel" segment. He recapped his mediocre weekend in Pennsylvania and also brought up how he was invited by RTR Vehicles to attend their Formula Drift event at the Raceway Park in New Jersey — his first time being hosted at such an event. "And speaking of car culture, that's a cool car culture that's different from what NASCAR is," the 35-year-old said. "It was fun to see because they had all other types of cars that they were drifting. The atmosphere is quite different, but fun to see." Joey Logano during practice for NASCAR Championship race at Phoenix J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Recalling the event, however, he revealed the horrifying moment when what he described as a tornado hit the racetrack—his first experience of this nature. Advertisement "A tornado went through there," he said. "That was wild while I was there. A tree fell on top of one of the race cars or drift cars. I don't think they call them race cars because they're not racing. A tree fell right on the roof. Crushed it, crushed the car. It was a pretty wild event. I can't say I've been in the middle of something like that before. "But it was like, you know, when a storm's rolling in, you're like, 'Oh, it's just a storm.' Then, all of a sudden, you see things flying through the air, and you start looking for the cow that's flying. I'm like, 'Oh boy.' The billboards were flying. Like the billboards flew onto the racetrack - all of this stuff," he described. Understandably, he was greatly concerned about his family during the chaotic storm. "I'm sitting in this suite, and I'm like — step back from the windows, let's go to the corner over here, get the kids kind of corralled," he explained."This is no longer a safe place. Advertisement "Then, when you walk back outside after the storm rolls through, you see trees down. And as I said, billboards were on the racetrack, and it was crazy. It was pretty wild," the Penske driver concluded. Despite his claims of a tornado, the National Weather Service office in the area suggested that the damage was caused by dangerous straight-line winds exceeding 60 mph. Related: Joey Logano Warns NASCAR It Is Flirting With Disaster at Certain Tracks Related: Denny Hamlin Pauses Interview to Deliver Somber Post-Race Tribute at Pocono This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
5 drivers to watch in the 2025 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway
The NASCAR Cup Series is ready for the 2025 Quaker State 400, and it will be a weekend of firsts. EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, will host its first races since the name change, while NASCAR begins the first of five rounds in its inaugural In-Season Challenge. With only nine races left in the 2025 Cup Series regular season, the 36 drivers eligible for the championship must maximize their points and playoff points moving forward. However, EchoPark will be a risky venue for drivers, representing NASCAR's third superspeedway track alongside Daytona and Talladega. Below, we dive into five drivers to watch during the 2025 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark on Saturday night! Shop Quaker State 400 tickets No. 20 Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Christopher Bell won the last Cup Series race at EchoPark in February, barely beating Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson in a three-wide photo finish. Bell has been strong at the venue over the last two seasons, and following a wreck at Pocono Raceway, he will be looking to sweep the season's two races at EchoPark for a fourth win in 2025. No. 22 Joey Logano, Team Penske Joey Logano won the 2024 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark, marking his first playoff win en route to a third Cup Series championship. Logano and Team Penske continue to lead the way on superspeedways, including EchoPark in February, when the organization led 131 of the 266 laps. The driver of the No. 22 car should be strong and competing for another victory. No. 5 Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Kyle Larson has zero superspeedway wins in the Cup Series and enters EchoPark in a slump. Larson hasn't led any laps in the last four races, and despite his struggles on superspeedways, the track gives him optimism for this weekend. The driver of the No. 5 car finished in third place in February and could be knocking on the door for his first superspeedway victory. No. 12 Ryan Blaney, Team Penske There is no better driver at EchoPark than Ryan Blaney in the NextGen car era. Over the last six races at the venue, Blaney has a worst finish of ninth place, earning 36-plus points in each event. The driver of the No. 12 car hasn't won at EchoPark in the NextGen car era; however, his time could be coming soon on Saturday night. Shop Quaker State 400 tickets No. 77 Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Carson Hocevar nearly won his first career Cup Series race at EchoPark in February, and the No. 77 team's performances indicate that a breakthrough is coming soon. Hocevar has been very fast in the summer, and going back to a track where he nearly won in February could be the perfect situation. The driver of the No. 77 car is getting close to victory lane, and the night of the 2025 Quaker State 400 could be the moment. More: How to watch NASCAR live at EchoPark Speedway in June 2025, schedule
