This past weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway all three racing series ran playoff races with the Xfinity Series ending in an overtime finish; but before Justin Allgaier crossed the finish line to lock himself in to the next round of the playoffs, his boss Dale Earnhardt Jr saw an early end to his race when he had a fire in the car.  NASCAR has since requested the fire suit worn by JR to examine it after the fire burned a hole in the right pant leg of the suit.


After being eliminated after the first round of the playoffs, Rackley W.A.R. announced Tuesday (Sept 19) that driver Matt DiBenedetto would not be finishing out the 2023 racing season with the team.  There are three more races remaining in the Craftsman Truck Series.  Rackley gave no reason for the departure of DiBenedetto or who would be driving the number 25 truck for the remainder of the season.


Penalties were light this week with only two lug nut violations and a loose wheel penalty.

In the Craftsman Truck Series, the number two truck driven by Nick Sanchez and the number 17 truck driven by Taylor Gray were found to have a single lug nut improperly secured in post race inspection.  As a result of the infractions, number two crew chief Danny Stockman and number 17 crew chief Jacob Hampton were fined $2,500.

The single penalty in the Cup Series was the result of a loose tire.  While NASCAR has amended the loose wheel penalty, officials determined that a penalty was warranted on the number 12 car driven by Ryan Blaney when his loose tire rolled into the pit stall for the number three car driven by Austin Dillon. 

NASCAR has stated that loose wheels on pit road will no earn a penalty unless it is a danger to another racing team.  NASCAR has assessed a penalty on the number 12 team with crew chief Jonathan Hassler, rear tire changer Zachary Price, and jackman Graham Stoddard all being suspended for the next four races.