NASCAR

10:09 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR veteran Aric Almirola will retire from competition at the end of the 2022 season to spend more time with his young family. Almirola revealed his plans Monday to the employees at Stewart-Haas Racing at the same time Smithfield Foods announced its 11th season sponsoring the driver.

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

2:13 PM ET Associated Press ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — NASCAR champion Kyle Larson‘s first Formula One race was the season finale, and he is as conflicted as anyone over the controversial ending of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap Sunday to win the title, but

7:14 AM ET Associated Press NASCAR veteran Landon Cassill will drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and is bringing sponsor Voyager Digital with him, which will again pay him entirely in cryptocurrency. Cassill, who has been avid in the the market for several years, pitched NASCAR sponsorship to Voyager CEO Steve

8:32 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The GMS Racing majority purchase of Richard Petty Motorsports will be called Petty GMS Motorsports going into next season and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty will be chairman of the new two-car Cup Series team. Petty GMS Motorsports revealed its plans for 2022 at the NASCAR

7:47 PM ET Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chase Elliott held on to one of his NASCAR titles Thursday night when fans voted him most popular driver for the fourth consecutive year. Elliott was both the reigning Cup champion and most popular driver this season, but he was ultimately beaten by new Hendrick Motorsports teammate

11:02 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will return practice and qualifying to its weekend schedule for all three national series in 2022 after the on-track activity had been mostly scrapped the past two seasons amid the coronavirus pandemic. NASCAR traditionally hosted three-day weekends for its races but dropped all qualifying and practice

8:22 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will represent the United States in the upcoming international Race of Champions, an event he won with Jeff Gordon in 2002. Johnson will compete in the event scheduled Feb. 4-6 in Pite Havsbad, Sweden for the “Champion of Champions” title in the

12:46 PM ET Associated Press CONCORD, N.C. — The addition of Brad Keselowski as part of the ownership group at Roush Fenway Racing means a rebranding of the team, which will be known as RFK Racing going forward. Keselowski bought into the ownership group this summer and the team unveiled its new name and logos

8:41 PM ET Associated Press DOVER, Del. — Speedway Motorsports has reached an agreement to acquire Dover Motorsports, ending the Delaware NASCAR track’s run as one of the last independent operators in the sport. Dover Motorsports owned both Dover International Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. Dover ran its first Cup race in 1969

7:11 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson won. That was the expected result of NASCAR’s season-ending championship race, right? Larson closed his comeback season in NASCAR with his first championship Sunday, where he capped his return from a nearly yearlong suspension with a title-winning victory at Phoenix Raceway. “I can’t believe it,”

11:58 PM ET It is notoriously difficult to see a truly great race car driver ever show us a lot of real, raw emotion. Not anger. We’ve all seen that plenty. Not celebratory joy. That’s what we see most, when the driver who has just pulled into Victory Lane finally shows us their face after

1:43 AM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Daniel Hemric made the first victory of his career one of the biggest NASCAR upsets — a championship-winning overtime stunner against the reigning champ. Hemric beat Austin Cindric in a door-to-door sprint across the finish line Saturday night at Phoenix Raceway to give Joe Gibbs Racing its

11:08 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson was the driver to beat all season in his comeback with Hendrick Motorsports. With only the NASCAR Cup Series championship race left, the three other contenders will chase Larson one more time. Larson nipped defending champion Chase Elliott for the pole Saturday at Phoenix Raceway

11:01 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ben Rhodes opened the NASCAR season with back-to-back wins and closed it Friday night by winning the Truck Series championship. Rhodes finished third at Phoenix Raceway behind race winner Chandler Smith and Stuart Friesen. But he was the first championship contender to cross the finish line and

5:40 PM ET Associated Press AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson was the best of NASCAR’s four title contenders Friday in the final practice before the championship is decided in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Larson turned in the top speed of 135.293 mph among the four finalists and was second-fastest overall in 10-lap average

6:57 AM ET By the time the sun sets over Phoenix on Sunday, we will have a new NASCAR Cup Series champion, the last man standing after nine months, a 26-race regular season, a nine-race playoff and, finally, a 312-lap throwdown on the rugged 1-mile flat semi-roval that is the Phoenix Raceway. Here they are.

4:54 PM ET Associated Press With a 14th NASCAR Cup Series championship on the line this weekend, team owner Rick Hendrick on Tuesday defended his decision to extend his sponsorship deal with Liberty University as the school faces scrutiny over its handling of sexual assault allegations. Hendrick Motorsports last month reached a new five-year agreement