Jesse Love and Carson Kvapil moved on in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, while Sammy Smith fell one position shy of a Championship 4 berth.

Half of the remaining field in the Cup Series playoffs is facing essentially a must-win situation at Martinsville Speedway, where NASCAR weathered a race manipulation scandal in last year’s third-round finale.

Chase Briscoe joined Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in the Championship 4 by winning the YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Series race on Oct. 19 at Talladega. Briscoe emerged from the front with the lead on the green-white-checkered restart, passing Kyle Larson for the lead then holding off Bubba Wallace and others on the final lap.

Sam Hunt Racing expands to two full-time teams in 2026 with Dean Thompson returning and Harrison Burton joining the lineup.

Chase Briscoe has secured a spot in NASCAR's championship finale with his first superspeedway win at Talladega.

The track winds through buildings on the Navy base, then out toward the waters of San Diego Bay, where the digital demo reel shows two giant aircraft carriers parked alongside the circuit, before winding back onto the airfield where it winds among parked fighter jets.

NASCAR faces a major antitrust showdown as 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports challenge its control ahead of a December trial.

Harrison Burton will officially join Dean Thompson as a teammate in 2026 as Sam Hunt Racing expands to two full-time NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series entries.