For the first time in more than a year, the NASCAR Cup Series competes at World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend.
The series last raced at the 1.25-mile track in June 2024. Sunday will mark only the fourth Cup race there and the first time the track, located near St. Louis, has hosted a Cup playoff race. Pre-race coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network.
With help from Racing Insights, here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup drivers ahead of the second race in the playoffs.
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick climbed from 14th in the standings to fourth after his runner-up finish at Darlington. … Reddick is making his 100th Cup start with 23XI Racing. … Reddick has six top-12 finishes in the last 10 races. … Reddick placed fourth last year at this track. … Bubba Wallace has five top 10s in the last seven races. Bad news: Wallace has an average finish of 25.7 at WWT Raceway, his worst among all ovals. … Riley Herbst has not had a top-20 finish in the last eight races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Noah Gragson’s 14th-place finish at Darlington was his best result in the last 14 races. … Said crew chief Drew Blickensderfer on the radio to Gragson and the team after the race: “Fourteenth is not what we should be satisfied with, but for what we’ve been going through … we can start building on this.” … Zane Smith has two top-15 finishes in the last three races. Bad news: Todd Gilliland has two top-20 finishes in the last 14 races. … Front Row Motorsports has led 31 laps this season compared to 333 at this time a year ago.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer has three consecutive top-25 finishes, his longest streak of the season is five. Bad News: Custer’s average starting spot is 24.2 and his average finishing position is 24.0.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson is one of three drivers who took part in a June tire test at WWT Raceway. … Larson’s 16 top-10 finishes are the most in the series this year. … Larson has two top 10s in three starts at WWT Raceway. … Chase Elliott is making his 350th Cup start this weekend. Bad news: No Hendrick car finished better than 17th (Elliott) at Darlington. … After William Byron finished 21st at Darlington, crew chief Rudy Fugle told him and the team on the radio: “We’re embarrassed. … We’ve got to execute a lot better all around. … We’ve got to improve and get better, race their ass off every week or else it will be a long offseason.” … Alex Bowman is 19 points below the cutline after finishing 31st at Darlington in a race that saw his team have a 40-second pit stop. … Bowman has finished outside the top 30 in back-to-back races. … WWT Raceway is the only current track that Elliott does not have a top-10 finish. … Elliott has one top 10 in the last six races.
A 40-second pit stop was among the woes for Alex Bowman.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s 20th-place finish last year was his best result at this track. Bad news: Stenhouse has finished 30th or worse in six of the last nine races. … Stenhouse’s average finish of 28.0 in three starts at WWT Raceway is his worst among all Cup tracks.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Chase Briscoe’s Southern 500 victory advances him to the second round of the playoffs. … Briscoe’s 11 top-five finishes tie him with Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin for most in the series this season. … Hamlin has finished second in each of the last two races at WWT Raceway. … Hamlin is second in the playoff standings, 43 points above the cutline. … Christopher Bell has never finished worse than 11th in three starts at WWT Raceway. … Ahead of the playoffs, Bell said this about WWT Raceway: “(It) is definitely one that I feel excited about and probably the most optimistic about” of the tracks in the first round. … Ty Gibbs is making his 100th Cup start with JGR. Bad news: Bell has finished 16th or worse in eight of the last 13 races. … Gibbs has five finishes of 18th or worse in the last six races.
Chase Briscoe celebrated with his son Brooks in victory lane after winning the Southern 500 but other drivers left Darlington feeling good.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger finished fifth at Darlington, his first top five since placing fourth in the Coca-Cola 600. … Allmendinger has finished 10th and 14th in his two starts at WWT Raceway. Bad news: Ty Dillon has three finishes of 30th or worse in the last five races. … Allmendinger has gone 47 starts since his last Cup victory, which came at the Charlotte Roval in Oct. 2023.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones placed third and John Hunter Nemechek was a career-high fourth in the Southern 500, marking the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500 Legacy Motor Club placed both its cars in the top five. … For the first time since 2020, Jones has scored back-to-back top-five finishes (fifth at Daytona, third at Darlington). … Jones was one of three drivers who took part in the June tire test at WWT Raceway. … Nemechek has a career-high seven top-10 finishes this season (he had seven top 10s in his career entering this year). … The team has 13 top 10s this season compared to four at this time last year. Bad news: Nemechek has seven finishes of 25th or worse in the last 15 races. … Jones has placed 25th or worse in five of the last nine races.
It marks the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500 that both of Legacy Motor Club’s cars placed in the top five.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon finished sixth at WWT Raceway in June 2024. … Kyle Busch finished second in 2022 and won in 2023 at WWT Raceway. … Busch has led 202 laps at WWT Raceway, most among Cup drivers. … Busch is making his 100th Cup start with RCR this weekend. Bad news: Busch is winless in 84 consecutive races, his last victory coming in June 2023 at WWT Raceway. … Dillon is eight points below the cutline with two races left in the opening round of the playoffs.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: The organization placed ninth at WWT Raceway in June 2024 with Justin Haley driving the car. Bad news: Cody Ware has failed to finish eight races this season, most in the series. … Ware has not finished better than 33rd in two starts at WWT Raceway.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski finished third at WWT Raceway in June 2024. … Keselowski was one of three drivers who took part in the track’s June tire test. … Chris Buescher has three top 10s in the last four races. … Ryan Preece has 12 top-15 finishes in the last 16 races. Bad news: Keselowski is winless in his last 50 starts. … Buescher is winless in his last 35 starts.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar overcame a spin to finish ninth at Darlington, giving him three top 10s in the last six races this season. … Justin Haley finished ninth in the June 2024 race at WWT Raceway for Rick Ware Racing. … Haley’s average finish of 13.0 at WWT Raceway is his best among active Cup tracks. … Michael McDowell has an average finish of 17.3 at WWT Raceway, his best among active Cup oval tracks. Bad news: Haley has finished 27th or worse in three of the last four races.
Team Penske — Good news: Austin Cindric won the most recent race at WWT Raceway in June 2024. … Cindric’s average finish of 8.3 at WWT Raceway is his best at all tracks. … Cindric’s average start of 4.7 there is his best at all tracks. … Joey Logano has finished in the top five, including a win in 2022, in each of the three races at WWT Raceway. … Ryan Blaney has two top 10s in three starts at WWT Raceway. … Blaney has the best average running position at WWT Raceway at 5.1. Bad news: Blaney was in position to win the June 2024 race at WWT Raceway before he ran out of fuel coming to the white flag. … Blaney’s 18th-place finish at Darlington last weekend ended his streak of six consecutive top 10s. … Logano has finished outside the top 20 in three of the last six races. … Logano, the reigning Cup champion, is three points below the cutline with two races left in the opening round.
Reigning Cup champion Joey Logano is below the cutline heading into Sunday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain’s 11th-place finish at Darlington gives him five top 20s in a row. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen scored five points at Darlington, his worst points performance in the last 18 races, and he now heads to a track that he’s never raced. … Daniel Suarez finished 25th at Darlington, snapping a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry has two top 10s in the last four races. Bad news: Berry finished last at Darlington after crashing on the first lap and spending an hour in the garage for repairs. … Berry is last in the playoff standings, 19 points below the cutline, with two races left in the round.