Aric Almirola has been confirmed as Danica Patrick’s replacement at Stewart-Haas Racing in the #10 Ford Fusion for the 2018 NASCAR Cup series, as predicted by Autosport. Almirola has spent six seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports and won one race, but missed seven rounds in 2017 after a sizable crash at Kansas in May. He

The Charlotte Motor Speedway infield road course faces a potential track revision ahead of its NASCAR debut next autumn, following discussions between series organisers and tyre supplier Goodyear. Concerns were raised following a tyre test last month, where Cup regulars Martin Truex Jr, Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch drove the track for the first time.

Kevin Harvick’s Texas victory marks him out as a “dangerous” opponent for his NASCAR Cup title rivals in the Homestead decider, says his Stewart-Haas team boss Tony Stewart. Sunday’s win made Harvick the third driver confirmed for the four-way championship shootout in the finale, alongside last week’s Martinsville winner Kyle Busch and runaway playoff points

Kevin Harvick sealed his place in the last round of the NASCAR Cup playoffs with victory in Texas, beating championship leader Martin Truex Jr to victory. Harvick capitalised on a rare mistake from Truex, who suffered a small slide on the exit from the second turn and lost the lead late on as a result.

Former NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kenseth will step away from the series next year after failing to secure a drive for 2018. In July, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Erik Jones would be driving its No. 20 Toyota Cup car next season, replacing current driver Kenseth. At the time, 2003 champion Kenseth, 45, was tipped

Outgoing Richard Petty Motorsports driver Aric Almirola is set to replace Danica Patrick at Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2018 NASCAR Cup season, Autosport has learned. Almirola missed seven rounds of the current season after a nasty crash at Kansas in May and is currently without a drive for next year after his replacement for four

NASCAR Cup team Front Row Motorsports has ruled out dropping Ford and taking the vacant Toyota alliance made available by the championship-leading Furniture Row team dropping back to one car. It had been rumoured that Toyota was courting Bob Jenkins’ Front Row team, a two-time Cup race-winner that has used Ford equipment since 2010. Toyota

Denny Hamlin defended punting Martinsville race leader Chase Elliott into a spin as an acceptable part of a NASCAR Cup title fight. A furious Elliott drove into fellow playoff contender Hamlin on the slowing-down lap and then remonstrated with him in the pitlane after Joe Gibbs Toyota driver Hamlin had spun Elliott’s Hendrick Chevrolet out

Kyle Busch secured his place in the final championship four by winning a chaotic NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville. In the first race to be run under lights at the track, Busch finished second in both opening stages as Brad Keselowski emerged in front, looking to sweep both Martinsville races this season. Busch’s win came

Furniture Row’s playoff leader Martin Truex Jr claimed back-to-back wins at Kansas in 2017 at the end of the final race of the last eight, having already secured his passage. Truex started the race from pole position and led until lap 39 of 267 when he was given a penalty for changing lanes before the

NASCAR Cup Series points leader Martin Truex Jr says that the new Charlotte road course track is “unique” following the first test ahead of the circuit’s debut in 2018. The new track will join the calendar next year and will be the first time NASCAR has run three road courses in a single season, with

Denny Hamlin says that NASCAR Cup Series leader Martin Truex Jr’s dominance is because his smaller team is maximising its alliance with Hamlin’s own Joe Gibbs squad. The Gibbs team has a technical partnership with Furniture Row, supplying it with a pitcrew to run Truex and team-mate Erik Jones’s cars, but it had to be

Penske’s Brad Keselowski says it felt like only eight cars completed NASCAR Cup’s race at Talladega, with the race winner one of only four drivers in playoff contention to finish. The Ford driver won an attrition-filled race that had 11 cautions and three stoppages, with only 14 of 40 cars running to the flag. The

Brad Keselowski booked his place in the final eight of the playoffs by winning on his 300th NASCAR Cup Series start at Talladega. Three late red-flags left Keselowski in the lead, and the #2 Penske Ford driver won the last three-lap shootout with the help of team-mate Joey Logano. Keselowski won the first stage on

NASCAR Cup Series playoff contenders Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson believe points leader Martin Truex Jr is no longer unbeatable following their battles with him at Charlotte. Truex won Sunday’s race at Charlotte having started 17th on the grid, but Harvick ran second for much of the race until he was demoted to third by

Martin Truex Jr booked a place in the last eight of the playoffs with his sixth victory of the season in the NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte, secured in overtime. The Furniture Row Racing driver led 91 of 334 laps through the race despite starting 17th. He had climbed all the way to fourth by

NASCAR chairman Brian France says the Cup’s stages format introduced for 2017 has brought out the best in the series. At the beginning of the year NASCAR controversially revamped its races by deciding to split them into three segments, with the top 10 in each stage on the road scoring championship and playoff points. The

NASCAR team owner and engine builder Robert Yates has died at the age of 74. He had been battling liver cancer. Yates began his NASCAR career at Holman-Moody Racing in 1968 before landing a job at Junior Johnson’s team in 1971. His engines powered Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough’s successes, including Allison’s 1983 Cup series

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott says he “gave away” his first chance of a NASCAR Cup Series win at Dover. On his 70th start, Elliott led 138 of 400 laps at Dover, racking up 59 of those in the final stage, but lost out to Kyle Busch with just two laps to go. Elliott gradually

Kyle Busch took the victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup race at Dover in a dramatic late battle with Chase Elliott, who was denied his first win. Elliott had climbed into the lead battle by the end of the second stage having started 12th on the grid, and looked set to break

Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr fears it would be easy for him to get complacent in his last NASCAR Cup races before retiring as he is not in the playoffs. Earnhardt has had a difficult final season in NASCAR, having failed to win a race or make it into the title shootout. His best result

Danica Patrick says she will not consider offers to race outside of the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, as her “only goal” is to win Cup races. Patrick has spent five seasons in NASCAR, but Stewart-Haas Racing opted against retaining her services for 2018 and current team boss Tony Stewart said he could see Patrick

Joey Logano says the penalty that forced him to sit on pit road for a full practice session at the NASCAR Cup Series’ New Hampshire round was “a total joke”. Logano and Team Penske failed inspection four times on Friday and as a result Logano became the first Cup driver to sit out an entire

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch took the win at New Hampshire after playoff points leader Martin Truex Jr picked up damage in a pileup. Championship leader and Furniture Row Racing driver Truex dominated the first half of the race after moving past poleman Busch to lead halfway through stage one, and continued to take his

NASCAR Cup playoff favourite Martin Truex Jr’s dominance is down to the driver and not Toyota, says closest challenger Kyle Larson. Toyota’s success has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks, with Brad Keselowski slamming NASCAR’s attempts to ensure car equality after Truex, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin swept a Toyota 1-2-3 in qualifying at

Danica Patrick could return to IndyCar after losing her NASCAR Cup seat for 2018, reckons her current team boss Tony Stewart. Patrick announced last week that she had been dropped by the Stewart-Haas NASCAR team Stewart co-owns with Formula 1 team boss Gene Haas. SHR had steered Patrick’s move from IndyCar to stock car racing

Kasey Kahne will remain in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2018 after securing a drive for minnows Leavine Family Racing. The 18-time race winner had hoped his victory at Indianapolis in July would secure his future with Hendrick Motorsports, but the team opted to release him from his contract a year early. Kahne had been

NASCAR Cup playoff leader Martin Truex Jr says the new-for-2017 stages format has created a “safety net” for his championship bid. Truex started the playoff section of the season with a 20-point lead as a reward for winning the ‘regular season’ title, and has benefited from the new points-paying three stage system to win 18

NASCAR Cup minnow Leavine Family Racing says it has held talks with race winner Kasey Kahne and failed in a bid to sign 2004 champion Kurt Busch. Busch and Kahne will be out of contract at the end of the season, with Kahne released one year early from his Hendrick Motorsports ride and Busch’s deal

Martin Truex Jr won the first playoff race of the 2017 NASCAR Cup season as he recovered from two pitstop mistakes for victory at Chicagoland. Regular season winner Truex led 77 of the 267 laps on the way to a win that further consolidates his playoff points lead and books him a place as one