The 50-person voting panel began deliberations at noon ET and the class unveiling is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET live on NASCAR.com. Stewart is among six new nominees on the 2020 ballot, joining the late Sam Ard, Neil Bonnett, Marvin Panch, Jim Paschal, Red Vogt and 19 holdover nominees. The holdovers, several of whom many thought would have been elected by now include popular driver Buddy Baker, master car-builder, mechanic and owner Ray Fox, nine-time championship owner Joe Gibbs, championship-winning crew chief Harry Hyde, Xfinity and Cup champ Bobby Labonte and longtime driver Ricky Rudd, along with Harry Gant, Red Farmer, John Holman, Hershel McGriff, Ralph Moody, Larry Phillips, Mike Stefanik and Waddell Wilson....

The starting lineup for Sunday’s Wise Power 400 (3:47 p.m. ET green flag; Fox, TSN1, MRN) was determined via the qualifying format NASCAR will use for ovals in 2022. There are separate formats for ovals, superspeedways, road courses and the Bristol dirt track. The 36 cars that were entered for the Fontana race were split into two groups based on the order of finish in last weekend’s Daytona 500 — odd-numbered finishers in Group A, even-numbered finishers in Group B....

The starting grid for Sunday’s race at Kentucky, scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET and broadcast live on FF1, features a Toyota on the pole followed by a handul of Fords as a result of the procedure that utilizes a combination of points standings and a random draw to set the lineup. MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule As for pit stall selection for the NASCAR Cup Series races being run without qualifying, it is ordered based on finishing positions from the series’ previous race, followed by new entries in order of points....

Ten drivers competed for the pole position with single-car, single-lap runs around Las Vegas’s 1.5-mile oval. The field was split into two groups for qualifying after practice, and the five fastest cars in each group in the first round advanced to the second round. Watch today’s race live with fuboTV (free trial) On-track qualifying is scheduled for all races this season. It was stopped early in the 2020 season and limited to eight races in the 2021 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic....

It wasn’t without excitement, however, as Kasey Kahne brought out the caution flag with just five laps remaining, setting up NASCAR’s version of overtime. Race leaders Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stayed on the track while the most of the rest of the field pitted. MORE: These drivers are in trouble after rough starts | These upsets would be great to see Harvick and Carl Edwards, on new tires, battled it out on the final lap, bumping and hitting doors all the way to the finish as Harvick reached the finish line just 0....

Denny Hamlin stayed hot and came back from an early bump with Jimmie Johnson to earn his fourth win of the season and his fifth straight finish inside the top three. DiBenedetto got terrible news this week as it was announced he would not be returning to Leavine Family Racing and he was so close to getting just a taste of redemption at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, but he came up just a little shot....

“It’s been a while since we got a pole so it feels nice to be able to break through and start in a good spot for this final race of the cutoff,” Logano told NBCSN after his run. Logano’s last pole before Friday was at the fall race at Martinsville in 2017. MORE: Kansas odds, fantasy advice, prediction Kevin Harvick, who won the spring race in Kansas this season, will start second....

Custer, who led 39 laps on the day, was ahead entering the final turns, but Nemechek used his truck to push Custer’s into the fence. Their trucks were off the pavement when they reached the finish line. Nemechek thought he won the race but waited while NASCAR reviewed the finish. Then, Custer jumped out of his truck and tackled Nemechek. In victory lane, Nemechek gave a quintessential NASCAR quote: “Rubbin’ is racin....

Nassir Little entered his freshman year at North Carolina as the No. 3 overall recruit in the class of 2018 and was widely considered a top-five pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. But Little — who completed what will likely be his only season in Chapel Hill coming off the bench and averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds — didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations placed on him entering his college campaign....

But before the race could get underway, the band Madison Rising performs a rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner," and well, it was not very good at all. MORE: New paint scemes | Dale Jr. hungry for win | Daytona 500 starting lineup | Stewart rips Petty There have been a lot of terrible renditions of the national anthem, and this one definitely ranks somewhere near the top.

If you’re a fan of Baked or Melissa or Susie Cakes, there are plenty of ways to get free or discounted cupcakes, including signing up for rewards apps and promotional codes. Alternatively, if you prefer eating your cakes by the slice, Boston Market and The Cheesecake Factory are offering customers free cake with certain purchases. While some of the deals listed below will still be available tomorrow, when better to make the most of them than on National Cake Day?...

If you’re a candy corn fan, check out these unusual candy corn products. From candy to cake, these are the candy corn products to buy this year. Top Candy Corn facts According to Candy USA, candy corn was invented more than 100 years ago. In the 1880s, George Renninger, an employee of the Wunderle Candy Company, invented candy corn. Candy corn is associated with Halloween due to corn’s link to the fall harvest, according to TIME....

Newsweek has scoured the web to find you the best deals, freebies and competitions so you can make the most of this sacred day. You can also bag yourself some National Chicken Wing merchandise if your love for the wings goes beyond the ties that bind. National Chicken Wings Deals Buffalo Wild Wings: On Monday, July 29, wing enthusiasts can head over to B-Dubs for a free snack size order of wings with the purchase of any small, medium or large order of wings (applies to boneless or traditional; dine-in only), the company told Newsweek....

The first ever consumption of a chocolate drink can be traced back to nearly 3,000 years when xocōlātl was a common beverage among Mayans in the Aztec culture. But it had an acquired bitter taste, as it was unsweetened, and was served cold. The xocōlātl drink was later introduced by Mexico to the New World and Europe where it underwent several reincarnations, at one point being mixed with spices such as vanilla and cinnamon, before evolving into the popular sweet drink we are familiar with in the U....

SPECTOR: Stop resisting the DH, National League The American League established the DH in 1973 and has since enjoyed advantages over the National League during interleague play regardless of which league hosts the game. American League teams are 23-19 in the World Series since the DH was born and have an all-time record of 2,565-2,299 in interleague play. With those numbers in mind, and the rise in pitchers getting injured while either in the batter’s box or running the bases, bringing the designated hitter seems to be a sound idea for all parties....

The first pies were believed to have been made by the Romans. During the days of the Roman empire, the crusts were made to hold the filling rather than be eaten, according to the American Pie Council (APC). The Romans are also believed have written down the first-ever pie recipe: a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie. While traditional American pies tend to be sweet dessert dishes, around the 12th century in England the majority of pies were meat-based....

But Beijing—like Moscow and Tehran—has denied engaging in such activities. “China doesn’t export ideology, interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs, seek to alter others’ systems, or intend to have ideological confrontation with the United States or any other country,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told Thursday’s daily press conference in Beijing. “We act on our words.” He then called on the U.S. to make a similar pledge. “If the United States is candid enough, it can declare its intention to the world like China did: the United States doesn’t seek to export ideology, change other countries’ political systems, or meddle in others’ internal affairs,” Zhao said....

The incident happened just hours before Washington’s game against the Pirates at PNC Park. Manager Dave Martinez said after the Nationals’ 4-1 loss that Strickland was struck in the face by a barbell. He briefly left the ballpark to have X-rays at a nearby doctor’s office, according to MASN. Strickland was still available for Tuesday’s game, but he walked out of his team’s clubhouse with a “bandage over the bridge of his nose and with discoloration and swelling on the right side of his face,” MASN notes....

NK cells are a type of lymphocyte, which in turn are one of the types of white blood cells in the body. It’s thought that NK cells make up 10% or less of the white blood cells in the body. How Natural Killer Cells Work for Immunity As part of the innate immune system, natural killer cells don’t have to recognize a specific abnormality (antigen) on viral-infected cells or cancer cells....

My, how times have changed. This week, Sen. Barack Obama attempted to fuel his presidential run with a scalding speech to the Detroit Economic Club, castigating Motown’s big wheels for driving our dependence on foreign oil. “For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars,” Obama told an audience stunned into silence after greeting him with a standing ovation....