According to the truck series rules, the lineup for the qualifying is set up not just on sheer speed, but NASCAR’s owner points provisionals help in determining the final spots.

This is where Spurlock suffered the big blow. Despite looking speedy and showing improvement on track, the NASCAR driver was denied a race start. 

“I’ll just continue to learn,” Spurlock said. “It s*** that we couldn’t get into the Truck race due to points; they base it upon points. At times, they’re obviously getting better every lap, but it’s okay.” 

Prior to this setback, during her race at the ARCA Menards Series, Dystany Spurlock started the race in 20th and made her way up the grid. However, her day came to an end on lap 18 after a contact with her rival. 

“It’s totally fine; this is a part of racing. I’m really excited to get out there and get ready for the next race. Overall, I think today was a great day, learned a lot, everyone is going to continue to improve,” Spurlock added.

The contact caused damage to her inner axle seal, while the gear oil contaminated the hub assembly and also damaged the right brake line. This forced her to retire. 

As of now, the #69 MBM Motorsports and Garage 66 driver is looking forward to the upcoming races. 

Dystany Spurlock Stays Focused on Future Truck Series

While her debut in the Truck Series did not go as imagined, the 34-year-old NASCAR driver is not letting this setback dampen her spirits about participating in future races. 

“The next race is supposed to be Michigan,” Dystany Spurlock said. “We are definitely working on some more truck stuff, so stay tuned for the schedule for that. But there will be definitely more truck starts.” 

It will be interesting to see how Spurlock turns her luck around in the upcoming races she has lined up.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at RFK Racing Digest.

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While another race has come and gone, RFK Racing’s decision to support their No. 60 driver and appeal the penalty has made it clear that until the National Motorsports Appeal Panel hears RFK and Ryan Preece’s side of the incident, this news cycle isn’t stopping.

Even FOX broadcasters had an extensive discussion about the penalty ahead of the race at Watkins Glen. Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, and Clint Bowyer got into it, and each expressed their opinions. 

Jamie McMurray kicked off the discussion, saying, “I think they got this wrong in this case. I hope Preece is able to win the appeal.” While he sided with Preece, he also said, “The key here is don’t key the radio. Don’t say you’re gon a commit the crime prior to doing it.”

McMurray referred to Preece’s rant on the radio several laps before the incident on lap 102 in Texas. Preece said, “I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars, and they can do stupid s*** and get away with it. When I get to that #54, I’m done with him.”

NASCAR used this as the primary reason for the 25-point and $50,000 penalty on the No. 60 RFK Racing driver. Compared to McMurray, Clint Bowyer was a bit more critical of the situation and said, “If you do talk about it and you meant to do it, own up to it and take the fine.”

Kevin Harvick, who has been on both sides, as someone penalized by NASCAR, felt Preece’s penalty was deserved because of his intent over team radio. “It all comes down to the radio and what you say. When you talk and have intent, then it puts them (NASCAR) in a spot. They don’t want to penalize you.”

The Kyle Busch debate and Dale Jr’s surprised reaction

In the same race in Texas, Kyle Busch slammed his car into the door of John Hunter Nemechek, which sent the Legacy Motor Club driver into the wall. Several voices across NASCAR voiced their opinions on that being a more aggressive and seemingly intentional move. 

Dale Jr said, “I honestly don’t agree with this one (Preece penalty). I didn’t think either one would get penalized. I think if you’re not going to penalize Kyle, which I didn’t think they would, I don’t think you can penalize Preece.”

Dale Jr also felt that the penalty was more about the radio message than the actual incident, which seems like a much softer touch than the one Busch had with John Hunter Nemechek.

In the aforementioned interaction on FOX, Jamie McMurray seemingly referenced the Busch incident to explain why Preece’s penalty wasn’t warranted. “I don’t think it warranted a fine. A right rear hook is different; this is not the same wreck that we’ve seen a lot of, so that’s why I don’t think it warrants a fine.”

Even Preece said that he was surprised by the penalty, which, financially, was pretty hefty. But he also said that it’s a relief that he is getting the support from RFK and that there is a panel to hear his side. 

Where this penalty really hits is the championship. Preece was 12th in the standings before the penalty and dropped to 13th. But the 25 points look worse in the context of the Chase, as it meant he lost a chunk of points in the longer battle.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been on a strategy to save fuel for the last 39 laps of the race. He managed to lead for only 17 laps before being overtaken by Shane Van Gisbergen in the closing stages of the race.

While speaking with Josh Sims of NASCAR post-race, Gibbs expressed his disappointment. “Just a little frustrating,” he said. “I wish we could keep racing, but unfortunately, I had to save some fuel there. But get to come home with the third place finish. Obviously, wish it was another win, but you know, I had a lot of fun today. Always fun to come to Watkins Glen.”

This podium marked his career-best finish at Watkins Glen. In his previous visits, his best result was a fourth place in 2023. Last year was bittersweet as he started the race in a lowly 33rd place, but managed to fight back to 14th. 

During Stage 1 of the race, the No. 54 driver fell back from 10th to 17th. It was during the second stage that Ty Gibbs began to challenge the drivers in the top five and finished in fourth. 

The 23-year-old eventually finished the race 16.531 seconds behind defending Watkins Glen winner Shane van Gisbergen. 

Ty Gibbs shows steady growth as the season unfolds

Earlier this year, the No. 54 driver faced considerable heat as his winless streak since joining the Cup Series in late 2022 continued. However, that came to an end at Bristol Motor Speedway in April.

Since then, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been putting up decent performances. In the last few races, he qualified in the top ten, but his races ended early after getting caught in crashes. However, the Watkins Glen podium marks his second-highest finish this season, after his Bristol win.

“Very fun day, very blessed and fortunate to be in this position and in this car,” Gibbs said post-race. “We’ll keep working hard, we’ll keep going for it, and excited to keep hammering it down.”

After 12 races, Ty Gibbs sits in sixth place in the drivers’ championship with a 195-point deficit to leader Tyler Reddick. It will be interesting to see whether Gibbs can continue building on this momentum, with NASCAR heading to Dover for the All-Star Race next weekend.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

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During the Go Bowling at Watkins Glen, with 38 laps left, Busch was heard talking over the radio with his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing squad. During the exchange, he requested a doctor after the race was over.

He said, “Can somebody try to find Bill Heisel? He’s the kindred doctor guy. Tell him I need him after the race, please.” NBC reporter Dustin Long also reported the same on his X account and also shared some background about Heisel.

“Dr. Heisel has extensive work with teams, drivers and pit crew members. Busch did not elaborate on the radio for why he is making the request,” Long wrote. 

However, a while later, the radio message was clarified during the FS1 broadcast. It was revealed that the No. 8 driver was suffering from a sinus cold all weekend and needed a shot for the same. 

Despite starting in 21st place, Kyle Busch managed to finish the race in eighth place at the 2.45-mile road course, marking his best performance this season and his best result since a Top Five at the Phoenix finale last year.

Kyle Busch pushes through to finish the race at Watkins Glen

After his radio message, fans feared that the Richard Childress Racing driver might not finish the race. However, Busch defied expectations with his season-best performance so far. It was his second Top Ten of the season and his first at Watkins Glen since 2021.

Post-race, the two-time Cup Series champion said, “Strong day for the No. 8 zone Jalapeño Lime Chevrolet team. We were a top-10 car for the majority of the race, and ended eighth here at Watkins Glen International.” 

“We made the adjustments and strategy calls we needed to drive forward and make up track position after qualifying 21st, despite battling a car that trended tight throughout the race. We ran out of fuel at the end of the race, but we’re still going home with our second top-10 finish of the season,” the RCR driver added.

Kyle Busch finished the first stage of the race outside the top 20. But during stage two, he managed to get some much-needed points, finishing fifth. In the final stage of the race, fuel saving helped him maintain his position in the Top Ten and rise two places in the standings.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

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SVG made up a remarkable 29.2 seconds in 18 laps, after pitting on lap 76. He came back out in 26th with Ty Gibbs leading the race till lap 84 when SVG chased him down, making it a comfortable win in the end by 7 seconds. 

The #97 Trackhouse driver won his 2nd in 3 starts at Watkins Glen. It was back-to-back poles and wins for the driver from New Zealand, who took his 7th win, becoming the highest race win amongst drivers not born in America. 

Speaking to Jamie Little from Fox, SVG said, “Unbelievable to win with the #97. The Chevy was great. Thank you to Trackhouse. We weren’t really good in practice, and then qualifying was amazing. Good tweaks, and today so what a racecar. Stephen made calls. I wasn’t sure how it was gonna work and to run him down like that. Very, very special to do two in a row.”

SVG made the race look easy, but he said, “It’s not easy. Everyone’s really good. There was a lot of pressure there, and McDowell was good. Connor was good, Tyler Reddick. There were some really good guys and a lot of pressure. Just stoked for these guys to execute every facet of their game. Speechless. It’s so cool.”

With that win, SVG climbed into 16th, the sweet spot for the Chase, as the 97 became the 7th driver this season to get a win. 

While SVG picked up the best points, winning not just the race but also Stage 2, Ross Chastain, who won the first stage, finished 27th.

Connor Zilisch, who started the race in 5th after winning the NOAPS race, competed strongly in the race. However, a flat tire made him pit with just eight laps remaining, and he finished 20th.

Ty Gibbs, who led 17 laps for JGR, finished 3rd while Chase Briscoe started in 9th and finished 4th for JGR.

Tyler Reddick, the championship leader, finished 5th after putting significant pressure on the race winner towards the end of stage 2. 

Pit gamble pays off for McDowell and Spire

While Spire Motorsports would have been disappointed with Carson Hocevar finishing all the way down in 28th and Daniel Suarez finishing in 13th, it would be mighty pleased by Michael McDowell’s drive and the crew chief’s strategy. 

With a caution halfway through stage 2, everyone pitted, barring Michael McDowell, who stayed out and took the lead on older tires. The plan was to pick up stage points while being in a good position to pit and gain an advantage in the final stage. 

McDowell finished out of the stage points, and when he did pit, he ended up in 27th for the last restart. However, that pit cycle ultimately helped him come back to 2nd position. 

McDowell said, “That second stage there, we got a little bit off strategy, and then we recovered well, which Travis did a great job of getting the track position we needed. Just not quite enough to run him down.”

Speaking about building momentum, he said, “Second is awesome, it’s great to get momentum back on our side. We needed it after a rough few weeks. We wanted to get to victory lane. But proud of my guys. They worked really hard.”

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Larson, however, downplayed the outside narrative as he said, “I think you guys pay attention to it way more than I pay attention to it,” before admitting, “Obviously, I would have loved to have won to this point, but we just haven’t been good enough.”

This discussion gets even more stressful for the legend after we note that his teammate, Chase Elliott, has already scored multiple wins quite early in the season.

He further added, “I feel like at times we’re really close to getting a win, and then, you know, at times I feel like we’re far from getting a win, so it just kind of shows how tough this series is.”

Entering Watkins Glen, Larson remains inside the top ten in points while continuing to lead laps consistently, but he’s not able to convert that into wins. In fact, he’s finished in the top-5 only thrice in these 11 races.

However, Larson reminded us not to overcomplicate our thoughts as he added, “We’re just kind of searching for how to be better and sometimes maybe search too much and get off track a little bit,” before concluding, “We’ve made this sport, the Cup Series, look easy at times, and I’ve never thought it was.”

But is the situation really that dire, or isn’t Larson able to compete at all?

Kyle Larson’s speed is not the problem

Kyle Larson’s winless streak looks even weirder when we take a look at how he has performed. Take just the opening 11 races of the 2026 season, where he has already led 499 laps, which is among the highest totals in the entire garage, and still not converted even a single victory.

Another example comes at Bristol, where Larson led the race through 284 laps, cleaning through both stages before balance swings and dirty air forced him to finish third. It doesn’t even end there.

Take another example, Kansas, where Larson led 78 laps, won Stage 2, and put on an excellent pace, but just bad execution in strategy dropped him to second. Even at Las Vegas, he led 62 laps before slowly fading to seventh.

So clearly, the problem isn’t within the driver, but in closing strategies. And team Hendrick needs to fix this soon before it gets too difficult for both Larson and the team.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

“I certainly feel like we — and myself in particular — have a lot of work to do to get to the performance that those guys have had.” He further acknowledged, “I think he and his performance and the job that he and his team have done are going to make the rest of the field better. I think that’s just how it works.”

The discussion emerged against the backdrop of the 2026 Go Bowling at The Glen, where SVG now enters after winning five of the last six Cup road-course races.

SVG’s arrival from Australian Supercars began his journey of unchallenged dominance, which was first met with his historic victory at the Chicago Street Race, where he, not surprisingly, became the first driver to win the Cup circuit in his very first race. This dominance was further pushed by SVG’s control in the Next Gen car.

However, on the question of whether SVG’s dominance can be challenged, Elliott added, “I think it’s totally doable… and I hope that we’re among those that improve and can at least catch up at some point in time.”

Despite it all, the question again arises: how and why did SVG manage to eke out such dominance on NASCAR’s circuits, and what’s the magic formula?

The Supercars formula that changed NASCAR’s road racing

Well, the formula, if any, is Australian experience. SVG’s rise mirrors that of an earlier disruption caused by Australian Marcos Ambrose, who compelled changes in drivers during the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Ambrose brought his experience from V8 Supercars, which allowed him to time his braking better. This made him one of the greatest road-course specialists in modern NASCAR history.

He won six NASCAR races at Watkins Glen across Cup and Nationwide competition, including historic Cup victories in 2011 and 2012, while repeatedly dominating Sonoma and Montreal as well.

Ambrose’s success was the formula that proved anyone driving Supercars, which teaches better braking, curb usage, and tire management, could very well translate and dominate NASCAR circuits.

And this experience is exactly what SVG utilizes, forcing the drivers of his generation, as Ambrose did for his, to adapt or be left behind.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

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Soureesh Datta

Speaking on Saturday at Watkins Glen, Ryan Preece reacted to the sum mentioned in the penalty and said,  “I’m feeling pretty good about the process and not having to deal with that. But that is a substantial amount of money.”

The #60 RFK Racing driver reacted to his penalty and said, “Honestly, I’m a bit surprised. Thankful that NASCAR has an appeal process, so I feel like I can be heard and let that process play out.”

The team has confirmed that it will appeal to the National Motorsports Appeal Panel.

On how he found out about the penalty, Preece said, “I was on my mower, mowing my lawn at about 4:30 pm in an area that does not have great signal. I just saw that I had a missed call, so when I made the call back, I found out that I had a penalty.”

Preece was hit with the penalty from NASCAR based on his incident with Ty Gibbs on Lap 101 of the race in Texas, where Preece bumped the JGR driver, who spun into the wall on the outside, ending up with too much damage to complete the race. 

The penalty was levied on Preece because of a radio message earlier in the race that signaled ‘intent’ when he said, “I can’t stand when idiots like him have fast race cars, and they can do stupid s*** and get away with it. When I get to that #54, I’m done with him.”

Preece thanks RFK support on appeal 

The hefty penalty will also see a significant 25-point deduction, something that could affect Preece’s run into the Chase. With his team backing him to the hilt, Preece expressed gratitude toward the team and his fellow driver. 

Preece said, “I’m thankful for RFK, for Chip(Bowers) and everyone there for their support, I’m thankful for having Chris(Buescher) and Brad(Keselowski) as teammates and for them being the great teammates that they are.”

Preece is happy that there is a process to go through and that he feels that his side can be heard. 

When asked if he will be more hesitant over the radio moving forward, he said,  “At the beginning of the season, we were encouraged to be ourselves. I’m not going to change being myself, but what I can say is that I’m excited for the appeals process, and I look forward to going through that.”

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

A road course master with a staggering five wins last year (all at road courses), SVG will be the man to beat when the Go Bowling at The Glen gets underway. 

The Trackhouse Racing driver spoke to the press after taking pole for the race and was asked if he felt that it was his race to lose. 

“Not with the tires like they are. I think there’s gonna be a lot of strategy tomorrow and a lot of execution. Like we saw, Connor made a mistake and just got half a car wide in the marbles, and then he lost three seconds for the next few laps,” SVG said.

He added further, “It’s all gonna be about executing and I think there’s gonna be a lot of variables tomorrow. I don’t think it’s an easy race like we’ve had in the past, you know, never easy but straightforward. I don’t think it’s gonna be like that tomorrow.”

A year older and wiser, the Kiwi driver spent the entire weekend driving various cars in the lower series. 

In the truck race where he was aiming to win and complete the trinity of wins across all three NASCAR series, SVG finished 3rd driving the #4 Chevrolet for Niece Motorsports. 

In the NOAPS race, his race got derailed after clashing with Zilisch on pit road and a long pit stop. He finished 8th for JRM in the #9 Chevrolet.

SVG’s track record at Watkins Glen

Ever since he entered NASCAR, SVG has made it very clear that on road courses, it’s him whom the others have to beat, even if he runs regularly in the midfield at other tracks. 

He got his first win on his Cup series debut at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. In 2025, he won five consecutive road course races, matching Jeff Gordon’s record at Sonoma and Watkins Glen between 1997 and 2000. 

Watkins Glen has been his favorite track with an almost perfect record. The #97 Chevrolet driver for Trackhouse Racing started and finished second in 2024 behind Chris Buescher. 

In 2025, he started and finished first by a massive 11-second gap ahead of Christoper Bell. He led 38 laps that day. 

This year, he took part in all three NASCAR series races, and while he hasn’t won the NOAPS or Truck race, he will be hoping to finally make merry at Watkins Glen during the Cup race.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

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“I knew my chances of making it through were slim, and I tried to slow down as much as I could before I got to it. And then yeah, I didn’t want to be on the brake pedal. So I coast over it, and I knew I was going way too fast.

“Didn’t feel good, but I’m surprised we were able to finish the race,” Creed said after the race.

Having started his race in third place, Creed fell to 15th place by the end of Stage 1. He recovered somewhat to finish the second Stage in 11th place. But the mud crash happened in the final stage, causing him to finish the race in 29th place.

“Like I was surprised I didn’t knock the radiator out of the car. I don’t know what the best strategy there was at the end for us. Obviously, it had no splitter or pan underneath the front so it didn’t turn very good. But yeah, I just tried to save as much fuel as I could just so we didn’t have to stop,” Creed further added about the race.

In the final stage, Sheldon Creed was fighting for the track position with Justin Allgaier. In that battle, he got pushed into a run-off area, where his car was launched into the air after coming in contact with the wet grass around the Bus Stop chicane.

Despite the dramatic incident, Creed and his HFT were able to help him finish the race. However, it deeply impacted his run and handed him a huge blow in the Drivers’ Championship, something he wanted to avoid in the long run.

Sheldon Creed looks for Cup Series seat with stellar NOAPS run

Sheldon Creed’s true season started after the Daytona race at Atlanta, where he won after a 137-race winless streak. Before the sad finish at The Glen, his last nine races were all top-10 finishes.

With such a brilliant start to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season in 2026, Sheldon Creed looks forward to having an entry to the Cup scene. For this, he wants to finish the NOAPS season on top.

“I want to win races and be really consistent towards the front every week with a shot to win the championship at the end of the year,” Creed said.

“Obviously, points are way more important this year than the previous 10 years. I’m just try-ing to run up front and pop off top fives. I want to be the guy that, when Cup teams are looking for the next guy to bring up, I’m on their list.”

Currently, Creed is in second place in the Drivers’ Standings with 485 points and a win. He trails the leader Justin Allgaier by 155 points. Jesse Love follows him closely in third place with just a six-point difference.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!