By Roy J. Akers — www.skyviewsports.net
Christopher Bell breaks his 33-race winless streak at Darlington and goes from 20th place back in June to second, 26 points behind Denny Hamlin. In all, five of the top-7 drivers, drive for Toyota with Ford, and Chevy sporting one each. Christopher Bell joked that he could relax for two weeks after winning The Cookout 500. That was last year. The Chase was reimplemented in 2026, no one relaxes anymore. Time to get to work.
JGR AT ST LOUIS: Joe Gibbs Racing owns one win at World Wide Technology Raceway, In 16 combined starts at the 1.25-mile oval, the organization has posted six top-five finishes, 11 top-10s, one pole award, and 280 laps led. Last season, all four JGR Toyotas finished inside the top 10, including a 1-2 finish with Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.
FOUR WINNERS: With Christopher Bell’s win last Sunday at Darlington Raceway, this is the fifth time that all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries have won in the same season. The team previously achieved the accomplishment in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2021. JGR won previously this season with Denny Hamlin (Las Vegas, Nashville, Michigan, Pocono), Ty Gibbs (Bristol and Iowa), and Chase Briscoe (Chicagoland).
| *Most **Tied for most The NASCAR Cup Series returns to WWT Raceway this weekend for the second race of The Chase. Among the 10 tracks in The Chase, Hendrick Motorsports has piled up 135 victories including 20 in the Next Gen era. The organization leads the field in postseason wins (62) and has won at least one race in The Chase/Playoffs in 22 of 23 seasons. That includes multiple victories in each of the last six years.The Hendrick Motorsports engine department enters the weekend with 579 victories across all three national NASCAR touring series, including 20 of 25 events in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series this season. Hendrick Motorsports remains the Cup Series’ all-time standard bearer in wins (322), poles (259), top-five finishes (1,345), top 10s (2,300), laps led (86,619) and championships (15). |
| QUOTABLE / Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, on opening The Chase strong, heading back to WWT Raceway: “[Finishing fifth in the Southern 500] was a good start to our Chase. I think it went better than I anticipated based on the last two Darlington [Raceway] races for us, so I was happy with it. It was the first really legitimate shot at a race win we’ve had in a while based on car speed and execution, so I was extremely encouraged. I thought our team did a really good job.” “Last year when we were [at WWT Raceway], I thought we had one of, if not the best car in the field. We were really strong in terms of car speed and grip. I’m encouraged to go back there and hopeful that we can have a day similar to last year, give ourselves an opportunity to score a lot of points and contend for a win.” Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet, on building some momentum in The Chase: “I think for us, it’s just, we’ve all been doing it long enough. We understand, you know, kind of the ups and downs of the sport, and this thing definitely goes in waves and goes in cycles. Hopefully, we can just get some base hits; get some base hits somewhere and start building some good momentum.” William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, on returning to WWT Raceway: “I’m optimistic about this weekend at [WWT Raceway], though. We’ve really been working on our package for there and I think we made good progress last year and at similar places this year. We’re going to unload and execute and score the most points that we can. That’s all we can do.” Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet, on riding momentum into WWT Raceway: “It’s been nice to be pointed back in the right direction here lately. I feel like I finally have my feet under me this season with all the highs and lows we have had with our Ally 48 team. We were pretty strong last year at [WWT Raceway] until a pit road penalty impacted our day. Our goal is the same each week, so we’re focused on putting together another solid weekend.” Corey Day, driver of the No. 17 Chevrolet, on a good start to The Chase, returning to WWT Raceway: “Darlington [Raceway] was a great way to start The Chase. I was really happy with the runner-up finish, and our No. 17 HendrickCars.com team brought me a really good car. We had a lot of speed and built some good momentum throughout the weekend, and I want to carry that into these next eight races. I’ve only raced at [WWT Raceway] once, but we had a decent finish there. Now that I’ve got a full season of experience under my belt, I’m looking to take what I learned from that race and apply it this weekend to try to put together another strong finish.” |
In 10 previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) in Madison, Ill., Spire Motorsports has one top-10 and four top-20 finishes. Carson Hocevar earned the team’s best result in 2024 with an eighth-place effort. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s in the Cup Series with Daniel Suárez, Michael McDowell and Hocevar, respectively.
Driver Spotlight
NASCAR Radio Channel 90. |
Daniel Suárez – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Daniel Suárez will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWTR. Freeway Insurance was established in 1987 and is one of the largest and fastest-growing personal lines insurance brokers in the United States, offering coverage through a “click, call, or come in” approach that connects customers nationwide. The company continually researches, grows, and diversifies its product offerings to stay responsive to the evolving insurance market. Freeway provides a wide range of options—from basic to premium coverage—in auto, truck, commercial vehicle, homeowners, renters, small business, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, fire, and flood insurance. In 2008, Freeway Insurance became part of Confie, the nation’s leading personal lines insurance distribution company. Customers can access Freeway Insurance through neighborhood offices, online at www.freeway.com, or by calling (800) 300-0227.With nine races remaining to determine the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Suárez sits 13th after last weekend’s race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway with 2,041 points, 94 markers behind the leader. He enters Sunday’s race at WWTR with one win, three top-five, seven top-10 and 21 top-20 finishes. Over 27 races this season, he holds a 13.9 average starting position and a 14.9 average finish. |
| For the second consecutive week, Ryan Ellis and Young’s Motorsports will showcase a new partner, with Introl joining the No. 02 Chevrolet for Saturday night’s Nu Way 225 Sauced by Blues Hog at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR). |
| Introl, a global provider of data center infrastructure services, will support Ellis and the Mooresville, N.C.-based team at the Madison, Ill., facility located just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis and within sight of the iconic Gateway Arch. Specializing in the deployment of large-scale Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) clusters, Introl operates a network of expert field technicians across more than 250 locations. The company provides 24/7 remote hands services, structured cabling, containment and comprehensive data center migrations supporting critical artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. Through a strict four-hour Service Level Agreement (SLA) covering North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, Introl employs a proven minimal-downtime methodology designed to maintain continuous business operations while optimizing infrastructure performance. The partnership introduces Introl as the latest company to support Ellis and Young’s Motorsports during the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season while also marking the global data center infrastructure provider’s first venture into NASCAR. |
| With two top-10 finishes in their last three races, including the most recent ASA STARS National Tour event at Owosso (Mich.) Speedway last month, Rette Jones Racing returns to action this week for another midweek showdown in the rescheduled event at Tri-County (N.C.) Speedway. |
 The Ebb Logistics 250 presented by SAVE22.VET, originally scheduled for Saturday, May 23, was postponed because of inclement weather and rescheduled for this week, giving Rette Jones Racing and driver Casey Roderick another opportunity to battle for 250 laps around one of Western North Carolina’s fastest and most historic short tracks. Nestled in the foothills of Western North Carolina, the fast 4/10-mile paved oval has long carried the slogan “Where the Action is the Attraction,” and Wednesday night’s event is expected to live up to that billing. A stout field of competitors from across the country is expected for the eighth race of the ASA STARS National Tour season, putting the historic short track in the national spotlight for a rare midweek showdown. For Roderick and Rette Jones Racing, the objective is to turn up the heat another notch and continue the recent trend of improved results following a busy summer of racing, testing and development. Testing, in particular, has played a crucial role in the Mooresville, N.C.-based organization’s efforts to turn its season around. |
