NASCAR announced Monday that at restrictor-plate tracks Daytona and Talladega, drivers will return to one timed lap for qualifying. That ends the group qualifying experiment that NASCAR implemented to make qualifying more exciting for fans, but resulted in multiple costly wrecks that angered drivers. MORE: Winners and losers at Martinsville | Hamlin wins STP 500 | Patrick’s historic day Less than four minutes into the Daytona 500 qualifying in February, Clint Bowyer and Reed Sorenson got together and crashed hard into the wall, tearing up the outside barrier, littering the track with debris and leading to a red flag....

Penalties were expected following the turmoil at Charlotte, where Keselowski tried to spin out Hamlin on the cool-down lap and then made contact with Kenseth as they came down pit road. Stewart, collected in the Keselowski-Kenseth contact, then backed hard into Keselowski, causing damage to the front of Keselowski’s car. MORE: Kenseth goes after ‘idiot’ Keselowski | Drivers shocked by Kenseth’s actions While there has been no video released of what occurred between Keselowski and Hamlin as they entered the garage area to the garage stalls across from their haulers, Keselowski and Hamlin were still side-by-side when video again picks up, showing Keselowski smoked his tires as he drove to his hauler with Hamlin behind him....

Instead of having cars roll through pre-race inspection multiple times until they pass through the laser inspection platform, teams will have two attempts to pass. Should they fail, a 15-minute penalty will be applied during their next scheduled practice. It would not be imposed as part of a qualifying session. Pre-qualifying inspection became a tedious process as teams adapted to the 2015 rules package that decreased horsepower by approximately 125 and a decreased downforce by about 300 pounds....

On-track qualifying is a rarity this season as NASCAR tries to limit the amount of time teams spend at the track amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Only eight races total are scheduled to have practice and qualifying in 2021; Charlotte was No. 4, joining Daytona (for the Daytona 500), Bristol’s dirt track and Circuit of the Americas. The remaining sessions will be for new tracks on the schedule (Nashville, Road America and Indianapolis’ road course) and the season-ending Championship 4 race at Phoenix....

Reddick secured the pole position for Sunday’s Verizon 200 at The Brickyard on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, posting an average speed of 99.378 mph to outrun Team Penske’s Austin Cindric in Saturday’s qualifying. The pole is the second for Reddick in his career; his first came last year at Circuit of the Americas. The 26-year old is establishing himself as one of the Cup Series’ best young drivers; a few weeks ago, 23XI Racing announced Reddick will join its team from Richard Childress Racing in 2024....

Chase Elliott’s win in the Go Bowling 235 sent him up to fourth place in points and cut into the playoff safety of Kyle Busch and Matt DiBenedetto. It also marked another race without a victory for Jimmie Johnson or Erik Jones, leaving both drivers on the wrong side of the postseason bubble. MORE: Highlights, recap of NASCAR at Daytona There are three more races in the 2020 NASCAR season, meaning the fight for a playoff spot is becoming desperate for many drivers....

The race was originally scheduled to start at 7:46 p.m. ET, airing on Fox, but did not get under way until just after 9:30 p.m. ET. Rain fell at the track intermittently throughout the afternoon, causing the delay. Carl Edwards started from the pole position in the first Saturday night Cup points race of the season.

He got that, and more. Logano held off a tough challenge from upstart Brian Scott in overtime to win the Hellmann’s 500. Not bad for a driver who earlier in the race left pit road with a jack stuck under his car and drove all the way around the track before returning to pit road for a penalty. MORE: Logano steps up at Talladega “Everyone stayed focused on their job,” Logano told NBCSN after the race....

Stock-car racing officials on Thursday announced a doubling of the zone’s length for Sunday’s race, allowing a bit of wiggle room for drivers when a race under caution returns to green. MORE: Tony Stewart’s retirement options | Watching raindrops fall at Dover | Facing Chase elimination As is the sport’s wont, it is making changes on the fly regarding this rule. Basically, drivers cannot gain position during a restart. That’s what got Keselowski in trouble at New Hampshire....

Fans of old-time racing can tell you that NASCAR has a lot of experience in scheduling a lot of races over a short period of time, although back in the day, it was mostly by design. This year’s condensed setup is an attempt to make up races that were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and get back on pace to run a full 36-race schedule. MORE: Updated NASCAR schedule for 2020...

NASCAR released a statement indicating Reaume violated Sections 12.1 and 12.8.1.e of its rule book without disclosing the exact nature of the infraction. The pertinent rule book sections include bans on “public statement and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.” MORE: NASCAR’s complete explanation of the Bubba Wallace noose case at Talladega...

The main change is with driver eligibility. Previously, only drivers who had been retired for at least three years were eligible. But with many star drivers still racing periodically, NASCAR added exceptions to allow any 55-year-old driver who had raced in NASCAR for 10 years to be eligible or any driver who had competed in NASCAR for 30 years to be eligible. MORE: France was angry over Richmond | Owens: Johnson the best ever | NBC broadcast team...

The warning came as AT&T continued its work to restore all its services after the bombing caused regional disruption to the communication network. CEO Jeff McElfresh said Sunday some customers were still experiencing outages more than 48 hours later. Officials named Anthony Quinn Warner as the person responsible for Friday morning’s blast outside an AT&T transmission building in downtown Nashville and said he died in the bombing. Moments before an RV exploded, a warning was heard from the vehicle that a bomb was going to go off....

The precise nature of No. 29’s injury and how it was suffered was unknown, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar did not seem troubled after Thursday’s 9-4 win over the Nashville Predators. MacKinnon, who scored one goal and three points before his departure Thursday, did not participate in Colorado’s morning skate Saturday, either. However, Bednar said it was just to “give him a little rest before tonight.” MORE: What loss of Landeskog, Rantanen means for Avs...

The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest hit Coney Island, N.Y. once again Tuesday afternoon, and Chestnut defended his title with an official count of 72 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. MORE: Everything you need to know about Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Sporting News has the results for the men’s and women’s contests below. Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2017 results Men’s Division Chestnut won his 10th title with 72 hot dogs and buns, a Fourth of July contest record....

The past few months have seen various cake-themed national holidays, including National Chocolate Cupcake Day on October 18, National Vanilla Cupcake Day on November 10, and National Cake Day on November 26. Other food and drink-themed national holidays coming up this month include National Maple Syrup Day, National Hard Candy Day, National Sangria Day, National Eggnog Day, National Pumpkin Pie Day, National Bacon Day, and National Champagne Day. Keep an eye out for these national holiday deals throughout December....

Major coffee chains including Caribou Coffee and Tim Hortons have ongoing offers for free and discounted coffee—and when better to make the most of these deals than National Espresso Day? Alternatively, if you prefer your coffee at home, there are also deals to be had on coffee machines and equipment, with brands like Illy and Nespresso offering free shipping. If you can’t make it out to a coffee shop this National Espresso Day, plenty of online coffee stores like Cafe Vita and Crazy Mocha are offering customers deals on coffee, mugs, merchandise, shipping, and more, with the discounts and promo codes listed below....

While there is evidence that ancient Inca Indians in South America may have been the first to have ground peanuts to create a butter, the late American physician Dr. John Kellogg is believed to have been the first to create peanut butter back in 1895, according to the National Peanut Board. Others say it was first developed by another doctor in St. Louis, who was believed to have dished out a version of peanut butter as a protein substitute to elder patients who couldn’t chew meat....

To bring you the best deals out there, Offers.com has provided Newsweek with some of the tastiest treats at some of your favorite restaurants. If you’re a fan of pizza-themed merchandise, Newsweek has you covered there too. National Pizza Week 2020 Deals Bertucci’s: Get a free meal for your child when purchasing an adult meal for $8.99 or more. Available on Wednesday only. And on Tuesday, get a free large cheese pizza when you buy any large pizza....

NBC News reported Sunday morning that four sources had said that Trump has told staff that he would like to hold a summit with Putin within the coming months prior to the general election on November 3. But O’Brien rejected those claims, while asserting that the administration would be open to hosting the Russian leader in the future. “We’re not having a summit with Vladimir Putin before the election,” O’Brien said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday morning....