MORE: Fontana odds, key stats, fantasy drivers to watch “I didn’t go on Twitter for a long time,” Blaney said Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “I got on it Sunday after the race and was hated widely by a lot of fans, and I’ve never had that before. That was something a little bit different, so I didn’t get on social media for a few days. “None of that really bothers me — what other people think — as long as Dale and I are good, and we are....

Owning the last three spots in the points standings, the superstar trio will either need wins or consecutive top five finishes (and mediocre finishes from the drivers ahead of them) at Kansas and Talladega if they want to move on. MORE: Every race winner from 2015 | NASCAR releases new rules for 2016 Brad Keselowski owns the eighth and final spot with 3,035 points, followed by Ryan Newman (-6), Kyle Busch (-10), Earnhardt (-19) and Kenseth (-32)....

The 2018 Cup winner is coming off back-to-back wins at Richmond and Dover, and now the series heads back to where he feels most at home — an intermediate track. Kansas Speedway is the exact kind of track Truex likes, a 1.5-mile track with similarities to Kentucky, where Truex has been unbeatable as of late. MORE: Watch the Digital Ally 400 live with fuboTV (7-day free trial) That probably explains Truex’s four straight top-5 finishes, including two victories during the 2017 season, at the track....

Admitting NASCAR is always a “work in progress,” France said that he thinks the racing is “markedly better.” He added that it is the sport’s “biggest challenge to balance the rules packages that offer the best style of racing for us, but we’re on our way. A lot of cooperation with the teams like never before, putting a lot of emphasis on it, and we’re getting better results.” MORE: NASCAR’s best road racers | Irvan: No worries about what might have been...

Busch will have two surgeries in December: one on his left foot to have the plates and screws removed, and an additional surgery to remove the rod in his right leg. MORE: Final 2015 Sprint Cup standings | How Kyle Busch’s frightening injury transformed him into a champion “The doctor made it seem as if once the plates and screws come out, I’ll be able to walk on it right away,” Busch said Tuesday in a teleconference....

He entered Sprint Cup racing in 2008 at age 18 and was nicknamed “Sliced Bread” (as in, the best thing since …). He was going to fill Tony Stewart’s shoes at Joe Gibbs Racing and become the next big superstar. After earning just two wins in four full seasons with JGR, he exited at the end of 2012. MORE: Track history favors Edwards | Homestead-Miami schedule He joined Penske Racing in 2013 and slowly began the rise to prominence that everyone expected....

A post to the Facebook page of NASCAR truck driver and owner Ray Ciccarelli suggested he would leave the stock car racing company after the current season in protest of the new policies. The post, which appeared to be signed by Ciccarelli’s wife, Sarah Ciccarelli, has since been deleted. “Well its been a fun ride and dream come true but if this is the direction Nascar is headed we will not participate after 2020 season is over,” as the post read before getting deleted....

With the heat races rained out, the starting lineup for the Cup race was determined by the mathematical formula that NASCAR uses for races without qualifying. Drivers’ starting positions for the Food City Dirt Race (3:30 p.m. ET TV time, 4 p.m. green flag; Fox, TSN5, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were based on four factors: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Team owner points ranking (35 percent) Fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent)...

Drivers’ starting positions for the Dixie Vodka 400 (3:30 p.m. ET; Fox, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) were based on four factors: Driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Car owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25 percent) Team owner points ranking (35 percent) Fastest lap from the previous race (15 percent) MORE: Watch live NASCAR racing with fuboTV (7-day free trial) Below is the starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR race on the 1....

Odds as low as 9-to-2 on a restrictor-plate race are highly unusual. In fact, the last time we’ve seen it may have been with Earnhardt Jr. during his Dale Earnhardt Inc. days, when he won five of seven races at Talladega (2001-2004), and his entire team – which included Michael Waltrip winning the only races of his career – had a decided advantage. Over the past 10 years of plate racing, things have turned around to the point where cars are more equal on these tracks than we’ve ever seen before....

Odds this low had been reserved Jeff Gordon on road courses from 1998-2001, or Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1. They’re just not seen in today’s era of NASCAR, when there are more competitive cars than ever before. But numbers don’t lie, and seven wins in 25 starts at one facility is some pretty serious stuff. Four straight is insane. Think about the obstacles Harvick had to overcome to win four straight races at one track–a span covering three seasons–including a do-or-die last fall....

The win was Busch’s third career victory at Pocono and the 55th of his Cup Series career, moving him into a tie with Rusty Wallace for ninth on the all-time list. Busch led a race-high 79 laps and cruised to victory at the end, despite not winning either of the race’s first two stages. MORE: Watch the NASCAR live & on demand with fuboTV (7-day trial)​ Kyle Larson appeared headed for his first win of the year after taking Stages 1 and 2 but hit the wall hard late in Stage 3 after a restart....

Hamlin is hopeful his success on road courses will help lead to his first win of the season. He said his run Saturday wasn’t perfect, but he’ll take it. WATKINS GLEN: Odds, fantasy advice, predictions “I had a great day today,” Hamlin told NBCSN, “and hopefully we can cap it off (Sunday).” Hamlin found NASCAR’s enhanced schedule helpful — with two practice sessions and qualifying on the same day....

When NASCAR made the effort to add drag and downforce while decreasing horsepower in its Cup cars, it did so with the intention of increasing the likelihood of passing. O’Donnell did not need to spell it out for us, but he basically did so when citing goals like “close side-by-side racing,” “a little more on-throttle time” and “more in the drivers’ hands.” Twenty races into the 2019 season, and with the Cup Series having visited (almost) all styles of tracks with differing aerodynamics at play based on the rules package schedule, NASCAR appears to be achieving its goal....

National Geographic’s new feature doc, The Last Ice, reveals even more of what’s at stake with global warming—the disappearance of the Indigenous Inuit communities’ way of life that is dependent on the Arctic sea ice. Premiering on National Geographic this October, and screened at film festivals around the world, the doc follows the Inuit communities fighting to protect a rapidly warming Arctic and to keep their traditional culture alive....

Diaz (19-11) is expected to make his anticipated UFC return against former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis (22-8), ESPN reported, citing unidentified sources. Join DAZN and watch more than 100 fight nights a year The fight will be at 170 pounds during UFC 241 on August 17. Both fighters reportedly have agreed to the fight verbally and will be signing contracts soon. UFC president Dana White seemingly confirmed the fight on Instagram Saturday night, though the fight isn’t official just yet....

No one has to wait long for fresh evidence that their dominance won’t end any time soon. The Bills provided some Sunday, in fact, when they trotted out rookie Nathan Peterman to start at quarterback against the Chargers, and trotted him right back to the bench at halftime after five interceptions. MORE: Week 12 NFL Power Rankings Once again, the Patriots are in full control of the division, at 8-2, three games ahead of second-place Buffalo, and if things break right the next two weeks, they can clinch their ninth straight AFC East crown (and 15th in 17 years since Brady became the starter in 2001)....

The defending champion wolfed down 76 wieners and buns in 10 minutes, one more than he had done last year, to win the event for the 14th time. Geoffrey Esper was a distant second after eating 50 hot dogs and buns, while Nick Wehry claimed third place after wolfing 44 hot dogs and buns. A 1-50 favorite to defend its title, Chestnut was 1-2 to eat more than 9.5 hot dogs in the first 60 seconds of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest....