With the win, Kyle Busch — who led four times for a total of 20 laps in the race — becomes the 10th different winner in 11 races this season. And, if that weren’t serendipitous enough … he won on his 36th birthday, joining Cale Yarborough as the only drivers in NASCAR history to win on their birthday more than once. Busch’s victory marked the close to an action-packed ending at Kansas....

Needing to win at Martinsville on Sunday to advance to the Championship 4 in Phoenix, the 24-year-old son of a legend delivered the greatest performance of his career to date. He led more laps than he had ever managed, and he stormed to an Xfinity 500 victory by a margin of more than six seconds. Elliott was moved to tears by his dramatic afternoon. Kevin Harvick, meanwhile, was stunned and eliminated despite entering the competition 42 points clear of the cut line....

What you see in Sunday’s Sam Good 500 will be extremely important to handicapping two later races at Richmond and New Hampshire, as well as the second Phoenix race in November during the Chase. For this weeks race, the best approach is to look at happened in those six races last season. From a handicapping perspective, Phoenix is one of the most true to each driver’s rating, which makes it one of the best tracks to bet on with driver matchups....

Sunday’s postrace interview on Fox had a little extra buzz because of who did the interviewing. MORE: Junior exits after rookie mistake Brad Keselowski, who was contending for the win at Pocono before fading late, put on a headset, grabbed a Fox microphone and shot the breeze with first-time winner Ryan Blaney . This was perfect because on Saturday, Blaney interviewed Keselowski after Keselowski won the Xfinity Series race. The interview was part of Fox’s Drivers Only broadcast, similar to TNT’s Players Only NBA broadcasts....

Non-playoff driver Ryan Blaney finished in second place, while Joey Logano finished third. Logano secured his spot in the Championship 4 with his win at Martinsville Speedway last week. MORE: Watch NASCAR live or on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial) Joey Gase spun with three laps to go, causing this race to go to overtime. Kevin Harvick took the lead early and didn’t look back. He led for 177 of 337 laps and finished both stages in first place....

For the uninitiated to NASCAR DFS, these are a few of the things to know. Drivers earn points based on their place differential from their starting spot. They also gain points for laps led and fastest laps. Their final place results in points, too. So, you either want drivers starting high who will lead laps, or drivers who start further back in the field and move up. MORE: NASCAR final four, explained...

In a memo sent to teams Monday, the governing body informed organizations that all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner for all three national series or risk being called back into the pits during the race. MORE: Best scenes from Richmond “NASCAR has been closely monitoring the aggressive strategies on pit road,” Scott Miller, NASCAR vice president of competition, said in a statement. “Safety is an area we do not take lightly, as our record has clearly indicated....

Stewart, whose sprint car struck and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. in a non-NASCAR race Aug. 9 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park, has missed the last three Sprint Cup races as he has dealt with the tragedy. MORE: Stewart returns | Stewart statement | Stewart: Time to race, heal | Stewart sponsors, future NASCAR has granted Stewart a waiver for the last two full race weekends (Michigan and Bristol) and he could still make the Chase for the Sprint Cup if he can win one of the final two regular-season races — this weekend at Atlanta and next week at Richmond....

Drivers’ starting positions for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (3 p.m. ET; Fox, TSN, 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) Below is the starting lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR race on the 1.5-mile track at Atlanta, which was set without qualifying....

The NASCAR race weekend at Richmond has already been impacted by weather, as Friday’s final Cup Series practice (Xfinity Series qualifying) was canceled due to rain. MORE: Starting lineup for Richmond race NASCAR race weather for Richmond Current conditions: According to weather.com, there is a 5-15 percent chance of rain at 7:30 p.m. ET, the scheduled start time for the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond. The strongest storm systems were expected to clear out of the area late Saturday afternoon, with most of the day in Northeast Virginia being cloudy with a less than 25 percent chance of rain....

Much of the leaderboard behind Hamlin, however, was much different than the first six races of the campaign. Clint Bowyer finished in second place, Daniel Suarez finished in third, Erik Jones finished in fourth and Jimmie Johnson came in fifth. MORE: Watch NASCAR live with fuboTV (7-day trial) Kyle Busch had dominated the NASCAR Cup Series entering the race, but he struggled on Sunday, rubbing the wall in the final stage and finishing in 10th....

Jimmie Johnson opened as the 9-to-2 favorite to capture his seventh Sprint Cup title, but Kevin Harvick has stolen the show and radically altered perception. He has shaken up the odds board, moving from 6-to-1 down to 7-to-2, while Johnson has slid to 6-to-1. Harvick is one of three drivers with top-10 finishes in all six races this season and is the easy favorite to win his second straight Sprint Cup....

Truex is the defending champion at the track and was in contention for a win in 2016 before incurring a penalty on pit road. KENTUCKY ODDS: Predictions, fantasy info, sleepers With four of the last seven winners in Kentucky having started from the front row, Truex has to feel good about his chances in Saturday night’s race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN). “Starting up front is key,” Truex told NBCSN after running a 188....

The 40-year-old driver led a sweep of the top four positions by Stewart-Haas drivers. “The way that all of us worked together at Stewart-Haas, I mean, four cars, top four and some of the first handshakes (and) high fives afterwards were with Mobile 1 and Doug Yates and everybody at the Yates Engine Shop,” Busch said. NASCAR AT TALLADEGA: Odds, fantasy advice, predictions “I mean, drivers just hold it wide open here, I have my checklist of things,” he added, “but this comes from a lot of teamwork … and to see it all dispersed amongst the four cars of Stewart-Haas, it’s a pretty proud moment....

This is Johnson’s first pole in Texas in seven years and the 15th different season in which he has won one. NASCAR AT TEXAS: Odds, prediction, sleeper Johnson teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott will start second and third, respectively. Interestingly, Daniel Suarez will start fourth after not using a draft at all. He has a very fast race car as well. It was a tough day, though, for some of NASCAR’s best drivers....

At the end of Sunday night’s episode, after Mike broke his engagement to Natalie on their wedding day, she saw him one last time. As a mutual friend prepared to drive Natalie to the airport, Mike repeatedly asked Natalie to give back the engagement ring. She defended her right to keep the prized possession because it was Mike’s decision to end their engagement and cancel the wedding. “I want to keep it to remember how much pain it costed me,” she told Mike....

Sudfeld sustained the injury while being taken down toward the end of the first half of Thursday’s 27-10 loss to the Titans. He went 10-for-18 passing for 177 yards and a touchdown before being injured. Despite the relatively good news on how long Sudfeld will be sidelined, Cody Kessler, in his first season with the team, is now in line to be oft-injured starter Carson Wentz’s primary backup. Wentz has suffered season-ending injuries the past two years and has yet to play in a playoff game....

The annual Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Competition is as quintessential to the celebrations as parades and fireworks and despite the global pandemic, this year is no different. The contest, however, will not take place in its traditional Coney Island home, but in a private location with strict COVID-19 guidelines in place. Defending champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut is once again the overwhelming favorite in the men’s event, where the field has shrunk from the usual 15 contestants to just five competitors....

Tesla has had a leg up on the competition when it comes to cross-country charging. Its Supercharger network, combined with in-car navigaton make the prospect of traveling from sea to shining sea easier for Model X, Model Y, Model S and Model 3 owners. Electrify America is actively working to catch up. The charging service recently announced their Boost Plan, an effort to have 1,800 fast charging stations and 10,000 individual chargers installed in the U....

Best bakeries and cake shops for National Cake Day 2019: SprinklesMagnolia BakeryThe Cheesecake FactoryGigi’s CupcakesSusie’s CupcakesKrispy KremeMrs. Fields Sprinkles You can try either a Double Stuffed Oreo cupcake or a Pumpkin cupcake at Sprinkles for a limited time. The Double Stuffed Oreo cupcakes are available through December 1 and the Pumpkin cupcakes are available through November 30. Sprinkles has locations in Arizona, California, DC, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New York, and Texas....