On Earth, these compounds serve as the building blocks for life. If the same processes are happening on Enceladus, it could mean life exists there too. The compounds were found in data from Cassini—the mission to Saturn that ended in September 2017 when the spacecraft plunged into the planet’s atmosphere. But before its fiery death, Cassini performed three final flybys of Enceladus, during which it went through a plume coming from the moon....

Logano, who was ahead in a lapped car, remained in Busch’s way, which allowed for the pass. Busch remains without a win in 2020. Harvick, meanwhile, is up to a career-best nine victories. “He’s nobody’s friend for a reason,” Busch said afterward of Logano. Cole Custer, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Blaney were eliminated from playoff contention as the field was cut from 16 to 12. Kurt Busch earned the final advancement spot after Byron wrecked during Stage 2....

The 1.5-mile intermediate venue is similar to Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway and will get back to what Kevin Harvick has had so much success at this year. With wins on similar intermediate tracks at Kansas, Atlanta and Phoenix already, Harvick will try to add to his tour-leading five victories on the season. However, Martin Truex Jr. comes off of his second win in three races and he was the king of intermediate tracks on his way to a championship last season, so he will be eyeing victory lane yet again....

Because of Johnson’s dominance of winning once every 2.8 times on the track, the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has installed him as the 7-to-2 favorite. His 2,999 laps led are also a track record, but even when he doesn’t dominate, he still manages to find ways to win. Take last spring when eight drivers combined to lead the first 377 laps, but as the race went on he got stronger and the only laps he led on the day were the final 23....

After leading for much of the final stage, Truex failed to put Hamlin away and settled for second place. As Hamlin framed his aggressive approach to his team, “Gotta f—ing take it sometimes.” Hamlin swept Stages 1 and 2 before claiming the race. The third-to-last regular-season contest also provided playoff bubble drama. Kurt Busch, who entered the competition feeling safe, crashed in the first 10 laps and will now be under increased pressure....

“I don’t know, it’s just a lot more attention on everybody else than it is on us,” Busch told NBCSN after the race. “We put ourselves in the right spots there in the end (and) there was a lot of chaos ensuing and none of it was our fault.” As Busch celebrated the win and a berth in the Championship 4 in Victory Lane, all eyes were on Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott after the drama that unfolded on the second-to-last restart of the race....

He’s never worn it, but it serves as a symbol of what might have been — a year he thought he would spend in a full-season sponsored ride for JR Motorsports in NASCAR’s top development series. Instead, Cassill drove one race after the Klondike sponsorship went to other JRM drivers. Cassill made $225,000 that year under a driver development contract with Hendrick Motorsports. In reality, his career went nowhere. When Hendrick didn’t pick up his option after the 2009 season, when he barely raced and didn’t have a sponsor, a five-year development deal turned into three years of learning, a little bit of money in the bank and potential unfulfilled....

The 27-year-old Chip Ganassi Racing driver and NASCAR star was fired for his use of the n-word during the iRacing event organized over the weekend amid the United States’ coronavirus lockdown. Larson had apologized earlier on Monday as NASCAR initially suspended him and he was ordered to take racial sensitivity training, but Chip Ganassi Racing management later removed him from the team completely. In the video, Larson could be heard testing his microphone and trying to communicate with the other online drivers after a virtual crash, “You can’t hear me?...

Reed Sorenson will drive the No. 55 Toyota with a Trump-Pence paint scheme in Sunday’s AAA 500 after two sponsors of Premium Motorsports stepped forward with the idea days before the presidential election. Trump faces Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Balloting concludes Nov. 8. Sorenson, who hasn’t led a lap all season, qualified 38th in the field of 40 cars in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. MORE: Sunday’s Sprint Cup lineup | Keep an eye on Chase drivers...

There are thrills, spills and everything in between when racers trade the open space of a superspeedway for the tight turns and close quarters of the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s an experience unlike any other in the sport. And with just one race left before the playoff field is cut from 16 drivers to 12, competitors have to show a willingness to go that extra mile (no pun intended) to cement their spot in the next round of the postseason....

The starting grid for Saturday night’s race at Daytona, scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and broadcast live on NBC, features some of this season’s top drivers at the front of the field. It is the result of a new formula that takes into account finishing position from the previous race, team owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race to set the lineup. MORE: Updated 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule...

Elevating Harvick’s rating even higher was the fact that Kyle Busch, who came into the week as the favorite, slapped the wall during Friday’s final practice, forcing the team to use a back-up car. And the back-up didn’t look so good in the final session with the 35th fastest lap. But Harvick was so strong during practices that even if Busch had run well and not wrecked his primary car, he would still be the driver to beat....

Also, check out our betting preview for the race. Rating, Driver Odds Practice 1, Qualified, Practice 2, Practice 3 Brad Keselowski 10/1 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd 2011 Kansas winner with 12.5 career average finish; hasn’t looked this good in practice all season. Matt Kenseth 7/1 3rd, 11th, 2nd, 4th Two-time Kansas winner and in the most desperate of situations in Chase; almost has to win. Joey Logano 7/1 18th, 14th, 3rd, 5th He’s in cruise-control championship mode....

Truex entered Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 — the last race of the NASCAR regular season — sixth in the points standings. But because he had yet to win a race, he and Ryan Blaney were on the playoff bubble. Both would get in assuming there wasn’t a first-time winner at Daytona International Speedway. Sure enough, there was. Austin Dillon overtook leader Austin Cindric in the draft — with help from Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick — with three laps remaining and faced no real challenges after that....

Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville, which started just a couple hours after NASCAR released a statement on its banishment of the flag, delivered massive numbers relative to comparable past Cup Series races. The overnight ratings were up 104 percent “over the comparable race last season,” per Fox Sports executive vice president Michael Mulvihill — a rating of 1.14 compared to 0.56 for the 11th race of the season last year, an event at Dover International Speedway presented on the same channel (FS1)....

NASCAR canceled Sprint Showdown and Truck qualifying earlier Friday. The Sprint Showdown will be run at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday. The Truck race will be run at 12:30 p.m. ET, with both events to be televised on Fox Sports 1. MORE: Drivers to watch in All-Star race | Stewart named grand marshal Chase Elliott will start from the pole position for the Showdown, with Austin Dillon also lining up on the front row....

Speaking on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel, France said the schedule will come out in September. MORE: France on RTA | Owens: NASCAR needs more off weeks, shorter sked | Stewart taking safety precautions “There’s not going to be a dramatic change but there may be some things that are a little different,” France said. “That’s not unusual. “You come back to moving dates around and whatever else, we don’t do a lot of it, but we do a little of it from time to time and this will be one of those moments....

Several senior federal law enforcement officials said Saturday afternoon they are working with the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in searching the home of a person tied to the RV believed to have been used in the blast. Local and federal authorities said they were searching the residence under “court authorized activity,” according to The Tennessean. The investigation of the home is taking place in Antioch, in suburban Nashville....