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Qualifying 1: It was a very rainy morning at Sandown with early showers causing some drama. The rain looked set to cause an interesting session. The drivers are going to need to commit to the track and their drive capability. The rain will not make this track any easier. The lap times are set to be dramatically longer with the wet conditions, but this may benefit a fair few of those drivers that often excel in those conditions. Some of these drivers include, James Golding with a performance at Bathurst in the wet. James Courtney is another driver excelling in the conditions with 3 purple sectors. With the rain slowly stopping now, the lap times have started to quicken. Teams begin to pit for fresher tyres, to enable the faster times as opposed to the old and warm tyres. Cam Hill and Ryan Wood having good times so far, compared to the field. Now the conditions are beginning to improve, whilst still having showers. We might see some late showers in the last 3 minutes. This may make it harder to get a good times, especially for those close to the bottom of the list. This includes yesterday's race winner, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Broc Feeney and Cam Waters. They may prove lucky given how bad the conditions are. It was near impossible to keep the cars on track, with little to no time improvements. Macauley Jones managed to top the timing charts, followed by Ryan Wood and Cam Hill. All 7 of the drivers fighting for a spot in the final 4 were able to survive the downpour and make it through to qualifying 2. Qualifying 2: This session was going to be less rain and easier to qualify. But the big question was which tyre would be best to use as a way to get a good time overall. Only Will Brown and Chaz Mostert opted for the wet tyres, whilst the rest of the field went for slicks. Brown and Mostert pit and switched to the slick instead, given the wet tyre would not work in the same way as the other ones. Broc Feeney and Matt Payne both jump to the top of the timing charts. Cam Hill drops it into the grass, with an odd spin, but wet conditions would allow that. The time that he had been setting initially before the spin, possibly would have ensured that he end up within the top 3. Will Brown will need to work a lot more harder to get out of the bottom elimination area. Currently he sits 11th. It was not going to be easy with the everchanging conditions, especially the rain. But the uncertainty of rain here in Melbourne always leaves room to go again. Various drivers were able to work around this. Rain is beginning yet again, times need to be set otherwise drivers may miss out. Will Brown has pit, may have missed his opportunity to get a better time. The rain falling is threatening good times from drivers, with both Brown and Randle currently out. These are 2 of our top 7 trying to get as many points as possible. Will Brown with another tough break, starting 17th, after declaring that the track was getting too wet and the times were not going to improve. But, drivers on track were able to find their best areas to gain time on track, even with minor rain. This makes it a tough race from this position but not impossible, given where Brown started in yesterday's race. Top Ten Shootout: Bryce Fullwood is the first to go out, currently its not an easy ask, especially with the rain beginning to bucket down, unfortunately he loses it towards the end of the lap and that is it for his lap. Cam Waters is up next with a warmer tyre on the car. Currently he had two green sectors, but he managed to keep it on track. It was so hard with the conditions and being forced to tip-toe around track. Chaz Mostert is next, and with a wet tyre on, this might be easier to control. It is slippery and with 2 green sectors this would be a good time for him. A much easier time, but rain beginning to fall more and more will make this harder. Broc Feeney brings out a new wet tyre, might not be an easy tyre initially but should begin to warm quickly. He keeps it on track with that, but lots of sliding going on with this lap. He manages to take the top spot, with a much faster time of a 1:13.7141. Cam Hill opts for a new wet tyre, but with an early error this might be a tough lap. He runs wide at the first corner, the corner that currently is not as wet. He is able to keep it together for the moment, within the final corners and last sector especially. He drops to the bottom of the times unfortunately with a 1:16.4890. Thomas Randle struggling with the early corners, going wide in turn one, and off the track in turn 2/3. The rain is making this difficult for the remaining runners. He ended up with a very slow time of a 1:18.9. It was a very tough lap with the changing conditions. Matt Payne is next and recently won the Bathurst 1000 in the very wet conditions. Better conditions for Payne as he negotiates through the first half of the track. Lots of spray from the back end of the track, with lots of rain and standing water. That was a solid time of a 1:17.0444. Kai Allen is the young driver, attemping to prove himself and the potential this weekend. Turn 1 was very easy for him, even the first sector was easy. He was able to maintain it on track. He completes the lap easily, with a 1:15.8227. Ryan Wood is looking to replicate his lap from yesterday with a pole position result. This lap looks easier and better to maintain for the young driver. Wood with a good time, just behind his teammate with a 1:14.4116. Whilst Wood was going on his lap, Thomas Randle's lap was invalidated so unfortunately he will start from the back of the top 10. Anton De Pasquale is the final driver to go. So far he managed the car well, its close between Feeney set time and this time by De Pasquale. The back end of the track is damp still, but he is able to remain on the track and within touching distance of the pole position time. A great time from De Pasquale, but ultimately Broc Feeney takes the pole position for race 31.

It was a front row lockout for Walkinshaw Andretti United today as they aim to make it a 1-2 race result and convert pole to win in Race 30. Chaz Mostert with an easy gain on his teammate overtaking him before the first corner. WAU have a great start continuing the 1-2 start, with Brodie Kostecki right behind them. Penrite Racing make a strategic call on lap 5, swapping the cars so Payne is ahead of Allen, given their positions in the championship. This is vital to them if they want to remain in the title fight. The battle for P4 and P5, begins to close as Payne chases De Pasquale for the position. On lap 12, the fight at the back of the grid begins as Courtney, Golding and Randle all fight for position on track. This is for positions 16, 17 & 18. While that happens, Kai Allen also starts to close in on the battle for position 4. Matt Payne pits on lap 15, this puts him at the back of the grid, but with an early stop like this, it ensures an early opportunity to gain positions on track without the need for direct battles. Will Brown has managed to overtaake a fair amount of cars to get himself confidently to position 7. On Lap 25, Chaz Mostert completes his first pitstop, Feeney and Hill stopped the lap before. The grid is beginning to start with their first compulsory stops. Lap 29, see's Reynolds position 1, Golding position 2 and Randle in position 3. They have yet to stop for their first pit. Lap 29/30, begins Reynolds first pitstop. Team 18 have completed a stop for both drivers so far, but they will need another one, later on due to tyre degredation. Lap 30, Golding and Randle both complete their stops as well. On lap 35, Ryan Wood lets past his teammate to return to the 1-2 position they had retained earlier in the race. Assuming this would be strategic given Mostert is in finals, whilst Wood is not. As it stands halfway through the race, Will Brown, Cam Waters and Thomas Randle all miss out on the top 4 finish. As it stands, they are position 8, 13 and 21 and need to make up plenty of positions to try and challenges their spot for finals. 33 laps remaining in Race 30, your current top 3 are; Chaz Mostert, Ryan Wood and Broc Feeney. Will Brown has been able to bring himself into the top 4, whilst Kai Allen will miss out on a spot. 26 laps remaining, 2nd stops have mainly been completed, with Brown being the most recent driver to complete his. 22 laps remaining as Mostert retakes the lead due to the top 2 pitting. His teammate is able to keep within touching distance as well in P2, and Broc Feeney currently sits P3. Will Brown currently sits within touching distance of the top 4. Your biggest mover with the most positions made in this race currently is Will Brown, having been able to gain 11 spots up to position 4. 13 laps remaining as Will Brown gains on his teammate and manages to overtake him, he now sits in position 3, whilst his teammate is position 4. WAU are having a good race, but starting to fall off now with concerns around tyres. There is 12 laps left of this race, can Mostert remain in that top spot or will Wood overtake him. 9 laps to go and Brown has completely gapped his teammate, now he is looking to gain on the front two drivers. If Will Brown gets that P2, he ensures his position in the final 4. Will Brown up into position 2, ahead of Ryan Wood after some brilliant defence that has enabled the gap between Brown and Mostert to grow, which now stands at 4.7 seconds between them. A great race from the young driver able to defend against the Camaro and give his teammate the cushion he needs to secure the race 30 win. A great race for Mostert making it 3 races in a row that he has won a race, Will Brown up to P2 which is exceptional considering where he started and with the brilliant defensive moves is Ryan Wood completing our podium in P3.

Qualifying is an interesting style here for the supercars series. We begin with our full 24 driver field all aiming to give their best times during the session. After the first session, we slim it down to 18 drivers through to Qualifying 2. After that session we bring it down to top 10 and that is our Shootout. The Shootout requires each driver to do one lap, with no other drivers on the track. This makes their qualifying based on pure pace. Qualifying One: This is a vital session for all the top 7, they need to ensure they get through this first session so they can focus on the next one. It will be difficult, but not impossible to overtake in the race later today. With 5 minutes to go, Kostecki tops the timing charts, with Bryce Fullwood position 2 and Matt Payne in position 3. The 2 time Gold Coast winner, Chaz Mostert currently out of the Qualifying 2, along with Cam Waters and Thomas Randle. All 3 drivers setting good times currently. This track is proving difficult to improve set times for most drivers with very little purple sector times and mainly green or red. There was plenty happening with Thomas Randle out of the qualifying session. He was one of our top 7, aiming for their spot to work for the finals. Unfortunately this is going to be tough for him starting from position 22. The remaining 6 also fighting for their chance in the top 4 at Adelaide, managed to make it through to Qualifying 2. After that scare for Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert, it made for an easy through and they were able to take a big breath, before refocusing back on the next session. Your bottom 6: 19: A. Heimgartner 20: J. Le Brocq 21: J. Ojeda 22: T. Randle 23: A. Cameron 24: M. Jones Qualifying 2: The results in this session are everchanging. Everyone is able to take advtange of the track now and work through the difficulties to make for a good time. Will Brown leads the pack followed by Fullwood and Payne. With just under 5 minutes, we have multiple top 7 drivers out of the top 10. These next few laps would be essential for a good qualifying and bettering themselves for the top 10. Those cars include, Mostert, Allen and Waters. Nick Percat manages to jump up to position 2, with that good lap result and Will Brown is out of the car after that great time for him, which secures his spot through to the top 10. By doing this, it put him vulnerable to being dropped out of the top 10 and unfortunately that was exactly what happened. Qualifying 2 eliminations: 11: J. Evans 12: C. Murray 13: C. Hill 14: W. Davison 15: W. Brown 16: J. Courtney 17: J. Golding 18: N. Percat Top Ten Shoot Out: These sessions are very fast paced, One at a time, the drivers will complete their lap and aim to have the best time. We begin with the driver who ended the previous session in position 10 and through to position 1. Cam Waters with a decent lap with a 1:09.5352. It was an okay lap for being the first car out on track, however he was not exceedingly happy with it. David reynolds is next, he is just down on the time set by Waters, but its close between the two at the moment. Reynolds manages to just miss out, with the last sector being slightly slower for Reynolds, with a 1:09.5633 Matt Payne is next to go, the first sector manages to be quicker than the previous two, its extremely close, but looks that Payne has that car under control more than the other two. Payne goes to the top, with a 1:09.1050. Bryce Fullwood is next up, he is pushing and sliding the car to it's limits. He manages a very fast middle sector, faster than the rest of them. He does get to position 2 on the timing list, with a 1:09.4948. Anton De Pasquale was next up and he managed to nearly match Payne's first sector. Fastest within the second sector, it is very close for the top spot. De Pasquale manages to go to the top of the timing, just faster than Payne's time. Anton's time was a 1:09.0131. Brodie Kostecki is looking to redeem himself after missing the Gold Coast first race, he is not in the finals fight, but still aiming for good points for the team. He manages to use all the kerbs, jumping over almost all of them. not as quick as De Pasquale, but still in touching distance. Kostecki cannot beat Anton's time and has to currently settle for 2nd with 4 drivers still remaining. Kostecki's time was a 1:09.0209. Kai Allen is next up, and the young driver is looking for a good weekend. He hasn't raced at Sandown very much only having 1 race in a Supercar. Brand new tyres for the young driver. Fastest sector 1, a little bit quicker in sector 2, Allen is pushing that car over the kerbs and has to settle for position 3, due to time lost in sector 3. The time was a 1:09.1004. Chaz Mostert who previously had a strong weekend at Gold Coast, can he get pole today? He has smashed the first sector, close in the second sector. Mostert flies through the final sector and jumps to the top of the timing sheet with a 1:08.9000. It is our first 1:08 time for the session. Broc Feeney is looking for a good weekend with the ability to make it a pole position here. Very close for Feeney with the ability to possibly take this away from Mostert. Feeney just misses out in position 6, with a 1:09.1372. It was a tough lap, given he started well, but found to struggle later in the lap. Ryan Wood on the Gold Coast. Hoping to go for a race win this weekend at Sandown. Your final driver, Ryan Wood. Out of the finals series, but he can do this as a fast and young driver with plenty of potential. This is close between the teammates, with one of them taking pole position today for race 30. Ryan Wood smashes the final sector, and overtakes his teammate with a 1:08.7371. This makes it a WAU front row lockout.

Triple Eight is looking for a better weekend than the one out at the Gold Coast. A P2 in both races for Feeney was not enough and he is looking for an opportunity to improve and ensure his position in the finals. Will Brown is looking to bounce back from the Gold Coast as it was not the best result and put him on the cusp of the top 7. Each team in the top 7 will be looking for a race win. This is vital in maintaining position for that final 4. Whilst easier for some, one team may find it difficult. Walkinshaw Andretti United have only one driver in the top 7, Chaz Mostert. He is fast and very competitive, but can he steal a spot from someone else, so WAU can make it? Practice 1: This weekend, we have two practice sessions. These will be essential for everyone, especially those in the top 7. All the teams out early to use every minute in the session. They are aiming to optimise these sessions to work out what works where and how. Anton De Pasquale with an early opportunity, taking advantage and jumping to the top of the session in position 1. Chaz Mostert having a good start as well maintaining his position in position 2, and David Reynolds in Position 3. A very slow start to the weekend for the remaining 6 drivers working for a spot in the top 4, all being either close to or outside the top 10. They will need to work hard in the next practice session to ensure they know what to do and how to priotise their races. The new driver in this weekend, Jayden Ojeda starting the weekend off well. Although he is lower in the field, every second for him is vital to ensure he knows the ins and outs of the car. During this session, the soft tyre was the choice with every driver taking advantage of that tyre to provide a good time. Anton De Pasquale took out P1 with a 1:08.9632, followed by Chaz Mostert with a 1:09.0179 and David Reynolds with a similar time of 1:09.0803. Your top 7 drivers; Kai Allen, Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, Matt Payne, Will Brown and Thomas Randle. Source: Edge Photographics. Top 7 in Practice 1: 2: Chaz Mostert 9: Cam Waters 10: Thomas Randle 11: Will Brown 12: Matt Payne 18: Broc Feeney 19: Kai Allen Practice 2: There was plenty of early promise for Team 18, with Anton P1 in the first session and Reynolds who initially topped the sessions, until Mostert moved up to position 1. Cooper Murray also had plenty of promise in the second practice session. Ryan Wood with a great time 15 minutes into the session, he jumps Cooper Murray for position 3 and eventually jumps his own teammate Chaz Mostert with a 1:09.1418. The top 7 are able to show their potential now in the second practice session. With 15 minutes to go, your top 7 are as follows: Matt Payne P1, Kai Allen P2, Chaz Mostert P5, P10 Thomas Randle, P12 Cam Waters, P15 Broc Feeney and P16 Will Brown. Is the low track position from Triple Eight a plan and they'll show more pace in tomorrows session, or is this a bad sign for the duo? Jayden Ojeda jumps to the top of the pack with a brilliant time of a 1:09.1232. This was a great result for the young driver, given his first weekend in the supercars as a full-time driver. Matt Payne eventually takes that position as well and we now begin the climb to the 1:08 times. James Golding with a great time with just over 5 minutes to go and making it to position 2. A solid lap time, still outside of the 1:08, but a 1:09.0105 is extremely close to that. Cam Hill also shocking us all, jumping to the top of the times with 3 minutes remaining. The time was brilliant with a 1:08.8711, these times are going to be crucial over the weekend. A better session for the top 7, as David Reynolds takes the top spot, followed by Chaz Mostert in P2 and Anton De Pasquale in P3. Feeney and Brown both with a better session (minus the spin from Brown) finishing in P4 and P7.

We managed to get a short one-on-one interview with RedBull Ampol Racing's Team Manager Mark Dutton, also known as 'Dutto'. Dutton is the current team manager for the RedBull Ampol Racing team, having been promoted in 2014. He has previously led V8 Supercars star, Jamie Whincup to multiple championships as his race engineer. RedBull Ampol Racing (Triple Eight Race Engineering) Team Manager Mark Dutton. Now as their Team Manager, Dutton has the very important role of communicating between the two race engineers from either side of the teams garages during a race. He described it as being "A Dad and so long as the kids play nice, everything goes according to plan". This is so the team is able to work as smoothly as possible, especially when you are a team like Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is essentially the branching communication between the two groups within the team. Everyone works on the car together and it is all about being one big group with open communication in order for the weekend to work out. He also works on car control, specifically during the pitstops. The Finals series was a brand new concept for the Supercars Series, and we had to ask the big question; had Dutton spoken to their ex-successor Shane Van-Gisbergen and asked for any advice on the concept given that the NASCAR has the similar format. Dutton confirmed that he has not spoken to him, but that does not mean that the engineers or anyone else have spoken to him about it. Finals series is very different, with the previous seasons it was similar to most motorsport series, where it is the driver with the most points accumulated over the season, wins the championship. Before this finals format, by now you would have a clear top 3 or 4 drivers with the possibility to win the championship. Now Dutton discussed the importance of a good race weekend stating, "even if you have a really good season up until the finals, one mistake can rule you out". We spoke about their brilliant driver pairing of Broc Feeney and Will Brown. Given their drivers currently are first and fifth, they are determined to get both through to the final 4. The teams main goal for this weekend which would guarentee their drivers a spot in Adelaide would be to get both of their drivers through with a win each this weekend. A win for each of their drivers, ensures that both are through to the final in Adelaide. Having only three days to pack up and move between Sandown and Adelaide, this is a small margin. This would mean the team is quickly forced to maneuver between the Sandown 500 weekend and those results to focusing on the Adelaide Grand Final. The team is not doing much to prepare as of yet, but they have started the little things. They simply need to ensure that they are in the finals. The team has to remain focused, with no downtime between now and Adelaide and just keep the focus. Their main focus once Sandown is over, is ensuring they are through to Adelaide firstly and secondly will be to ensure that they have clean cars for that race weekend. This makes the prep time much easier for the team, as it is fully focused on performance and not so much on repairs needed. The team championship for them is basically solid, and they are pretty good on that. so as mentioned their main focus is purely looking onto the weekend and focusing on maximising points and possible race win opportunities too. The team looks ready and prepped for the weekend, having been seen unpacking yesterday before the practice sessions today.

With the weekend of Sandown already beginning, your top 7 have come in with lots of confidence and some uncertainty. I managed to get some time with some of the top 7 drivers; Matt Payne, Chaz Mostert, Will Brown and Broc Feeney. Exclusive photos from the pit straight at Sandown Raceway. The drivers are all extremely confident coming into the weekend, with most happy with their abilities, including with the possibility of rain on the sunday. Matt Payne is confident, quoting it is "one of the most historic tracks for them (Penrite) in terms of the sport" and also loves the track being close to home. When mentioning the track conditions and the likelihood of rain, Payne discussed the trickiness of the wet weather here. He mentioned the weather radar looking clear, but there could be a slight chance of rain appearing on the Sunday. He is ultimately aiming for that top 4, being third in the championship, so working very hard over the weekend to achieve that result. As for Chaz Mostert, coming off the double win at the sunny Gold Coast, he has found that as an added boost of confidence to his race weekend here at Sandown. Mostert notes Sandown is "a very unique track and looks pretty basic from the top". He is up for the challenge of the close qualifying with only a few tenths possibly splitting the top 10. The 5 seasons in one day will prove tough for all the drivers, especially the uncertainty of the weather. Chaz Mostert with a double win at the Gold Coast builds confidence heading into Sandown. He is hoping to perform this weekend, given the unfortunate drop out of the top 7 of his teammate, Ryan Wood. When chatting, he spoke about Wood so highly even mentioning his great results, and how fast he has been. The team has rallied together to ensure they can go for the top 4, for themselves. Finally we spoke to the duo, Will Brown and Broc Feeney. Currently leading the Drivers Championship, they were both confident in their ability as a team to maintain that lead, but similarly mentioned the uncertainty that Sandown brings. Brown has 2 wins previously at the track, and mentions having good races, both with Triple Eight (RedBull Ampol Racing) and previous teams. Will Brown with his previous success whilst at Sandown Raceway. Feeney previously claimed pole position here last year, so has some confidence. He even discussed the ability to race in the wet, but their unfortunate situation from Bathurst in the wet weather conditions. Will Brown, mentions his biggest competitors being his teammate, Broc Feeney, but also discusses being on the bubble and also needing to beat Cam Waters and Matt Payne. Feeney discusses the importance of seeing everyone as a competitor, but mentions the form that Chaz Mostert is in, especially after his wins at the Gold Coast. He does also talk about the focus being on themselves as a team and trying the best they can. The Enduros were tough for both RedBull Ampol drivers, with unfortunate results given the crazy weather they experienced, so both are hoping to bounce back here. With previous wins and great results for both of these drivers, it could go to either of them or both if they're lucky to secure one win each. Finals Format: The finals format is now the remaining 7 as they fight to make the top 4, over the weekend. A race win at any point over the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday) can ensure a drivers position in the top 4, whilst the remaining drivers fight for a spot. Stats for the weekend: Your previous Sandown 500 winner (500km Enduro): Will Brown/Scott Pye (Triple Eight Race Engineering) Most wins at Sandown: Craig Lowndes (11) Jamie Whincup (10) Dick Johnson; Mark Skaife (6) Previous winners at Sandown in 2025 field: 2 Wins: Will Davison 1 Win: James Courtney, Cam Waters, Broc Feeney, Will Brown

What a weekend full of weather concerns and worrying results. For Oscar Piastri his sprint race did not go according to plan, with an unfortunate DNF, along with Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto with a terrifying crash on the last lap. All drivers were okay, but unable to attempt to score points and for Bortoleto, it was a tough day with also not being able to qualify properly. Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg all crash during the Sprint Race. With Lando Norris starting in P1, Kimi Antonelli in P2 and Charles Leclerc in P3 it was going to be interesting. With various safety car periods and virtual safety car periods, Norris was able to make the most of those winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. Joining Norris in P2 was Antonelli and storming through the field from the Pitlane to P3, was Max Verstappen. A brilliant result for the RedBull driver, given the Q1 exit and changes under Parc Ferme. The 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix Podium: Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen. George Russell did great at defending his P4 result from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. With a quiet weekend for him, extending the lead in the constructors was their priority. It was a long race, with little weather compared to previous years and it worked in the Mercedes favour. Oscar Piastri had a tremendous result finishing in P5, even after his early lockup that gave him a 10 second penalty. It was going to be a hard weekend, but he needed to prioritise gaining as many points as possible, if he wanted to stay in the championship fight.   Ferrari with another shocking weekend with a double DNF. Lewis Hamilton received damage off initial contact with Carlos Sainz and floor damage after running into Franco Colapinto and breaking his front wing. Hamilton was eventually stuck at the back of the grid, with very little he could do to help himself. He would retire on lap 37. Charles Leclerc was clipped by Antonelli after Piastri locked up and ran into the rookie. Leclerc would be forced to retire given too much damage, on lap 5. Charles Leclerc gets hit by Antonelli after Piastri locks up. VCARB’s duo had a great weekend with a double points finish. They were both able to defend brilliantly to maintain their position on track. Liam Lawson would drag the remaining field over the line and finish P7, whilst Isack Hadjar would finish P8.   The two lone drivers representing their teams in the top 10 was Oliver Bearman and Pierre Gasly. Oliver Bearman was great, defending and attacking the field with some great overtakes from him. Bearman would finish in P6. Pierre Gasly was the final driver to take the top 10, in P10. He was a quiet result, but with some of the best racing I had seen from the Alpine driver this season. Home-town hero Gabriel Bortoleto unfortunately could not even race having DNF on lap 1. It was a tough result given he had been squeezed slightly by Lance Stroll. He will have plenty more opportunities in the future to race in his home Grand Prix, just disappointing it was not meant to be this year. As for his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, he had a great result having managed to get to P9 and assist himself and the team with a couple extra points. Gabriel Bortoleto out for the second time at his first home Grand Prix Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz would both just miss out on an opportunity for points. Albon had a quiet day, driving his own race, whilst Sainz did get some damage during his initial contact with Lewis Hamilton on the first lap. Albon would finish in P11, whilst Sainz finished in P13. Similarly, the Aston Martin pairing would also have a tough race, given Stroll was hit by Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso was struggling for pace. Alonso would go on to finish P14, whilst Stroll would finish P16.   Your final 3 solo drivers during the race were Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda. Ocon was an unfortunate case of bad luck, given his teammate had some decent pace to keep within the top 10. If Ocon had qualified within that area, his weekend may have looked a little better. Ocon finished in P12 between the two Williams drivers. Colapinto once again beaten by his teammate and remains as the only driver (aside from Jack Doohan) with 0 points this season. A very tough result, especially given this is the closest to a home Grand Prix for the young driver. He would finish in P15.   Tsunoda was given the difficult task starting at the back end of the grid. With little pace in the car and 2 10 second penalties given, initial one for causing a collision and a second one for not serving the first one properly, a good result was near impossible. In the end, Tsunoda would go on to finish at the back end of the grid in P17.   This weekend proved that it is going to be a close championship battle between the remaining 3 within the title battle; Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. Our next race weekend takes place in Las Vegas and has previously been a favourable track for the RedBull car. Can Verstappen make that work in his favour? The 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Mexico was definitely a mixed bag for the drivers, with some finding success over the weekend and others purely struggling to keep up.   From qualifying we knew it was going to be a tough ask for McLaren Driver, Oscar Piastri starting from P8. Our top 3 from Qualifying was Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton starting P3 and Charles Leclerc P2, whilst Lando Norris was starting on pole position. It was going to be a test for the top 10, with the conditions not necessarily working in all their favours. Your top 3 from Qualifying in Mexico City; Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. With many drivers going off the track in the first corner, it was Norris leading from both Ferrari drivers, even with Leclerc going wide. Norris would later go on to win the race. This would be just ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who was able to maintain that P2, with a very lucky Virtual Safety Car called on the second last lap. Finishing just behind Leclerc, was Max Verstappen. He would have really liked for a battle with the Ferrari driver, but it was just not meant to be that day. Lando Norris wins in Mexico alongside Charles Leclerc in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3. Lewis Hamilton was forced to finish P8, after receiving a 10 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. It was an overall devastating result given how well he had gone in qualifying, and due to damage to the floor, it also impacted his result. It was also not the race for McLaren driver, Oscar Piastri who had difficulties with the start and was forced to remain behind the Mercedes duo for quite some time without making a dent into their pace. This hindered his opportunity to go for a podium result. Piastri would eventually have to settle for P5. Redbull almost had another weekend with double points, but unfortunately Yuki Tsunoda was forced to fall into P11, and just missing out on points opportunity again. Tsunoda has had a very on and off season, with some great highlights and some moments to forget. Has he started to warm up to the car, or is it too late for him? Redbull Driver Max Verstappen and Ferrari Driver Lewis Hamilton with a clash at the Mexican Grand Prix. The Mercedes duo had a quiet weekend, aside from George Russells various comments about needing to be switched as he was under threat from Piastri. They would go for a decent result, but probably not one they imagined, finishing P6 with Kimi Antonelli and P7 with George Russell.   Ahead of Piastri and officially matching the team’s best result of P4 was Oliver Bearman in the Haas. This was a very impressive result for the young driver, who we know has plenty of potential in the future. He was able to defend against a few hard hitters and maintained his position on track. A very great weekend overall for Haas as well with Esteban Ocon finishing in P9. It was a double points finish for this duo and a very exciting move in the championship as they move into P8.   Your final driver sitting in the top 10, was a very quiet Gabriel Bortoleto. It was not the result we expected, and he just managed to creep into the top 10. A very terrific drive for the young rookie, who we also know has lots of potential as seen in F2. His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg unfortunately was one of our DNFs from the race. A difficult result for Hulkenberg to deal with, given the car looked decent over the weekend. Nico Hulkenberg with an unfortunate ending to his race weekend in Mexico after losing all power to his car. Alex Albon was another driver with a decent result, although it was not points, it was the ability to drive their car in the way he did. After starting P17, it was only up for him, and he managed a decent P12 finish. His teammate, Carlos Sainz however was another driver who was forced to DNF, on the second last lap with an issue within the car. A baffling situation given he had almost finished the race.   In P13, was Isack Hadjar, and again he is another driver who has on and off weekends. We know he can perform and do well, but we have also seen some not-so-great results. A P13 finish is not too bad for Hadjar, with plenty of work and only up to go. As for Liam Lawson, he was another unfortunate DNF and with the controversy around the Marshals vs Lawson, he had a weekend that was not for the faint hearted. This was an interesting conversation with questions being thrown as to why they were on track at that point in time and asking why Lawson hadn’t slowed under double waved yellows. All we know is that we’re glad no drivers or marshals were injured. Liam Lawson with an incident involving Marshals on track ahead of him. Lance Stroll probably did not have the result he would have liked with a P14 finish. The Aston Martin has not been the strongest midfield car this season. Similarly, Fernando Alonso was our 4 th DNF after what appeared to be frustration from the veteran driver. Overall, a tough result for Aston Martin, especially if they are wanting to fight those around them in the championship battle.   Finally, your last two drivers, Alpine. Pierre Gasly finished in P15, whilst Franco Colapinto was P16. This team has had a season from driver changes to no performance in that car. It’s not a great season for Alpine but let’s hope for them to look better with the changes and upcoming new regulations in 2026.   Whilst we are still talking about a big Constructors battle, the Drivers’ Championship gets even closer, with Lando Norris retaking the lead by only 1 point. This is the point in which Piastri needs to pick up if he wants that championship for himself, or will Verstappen ruin McLaren's opportunity and go for a 5 th title?   We’ll have to wait and see, but for now the battle continues as we head to Brazil this weekend for the Brazilian Grand Prix. We know that weather is a big factor at Sao Paulo, what will it look like this year having seen some scary conditions, including thunderstorms that turn the daytime sky into night, or the wet conditions that no one can drive in. Be sure to watch this weekend, you won’t want to miss it! One of the many restarts for the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix with weather causing all kinds of dramas.

Here it is, one race away from crowning a champion! Let me preface by saying, just because you are in the final 4 doesn’t mean you are top 4 in the power rankings. Which that out of the way, let’s rank these drivers for the final time. Honorable Mention: Since Michigan, Ryan Preece has only finished outside the top 15 just 5 times. That streak includes the last 4 races (3 of which are top 10s) and 5 of the last 6. A 6th place run backs up his 7th earlier in the year at Martinsville. Preece finished 15th at Phoenix in the spring, but has been improving steadily since then. Expect a solid top 10 run out of him and teammate Buescher to end the year. 10: Bubba Wallace falls to 10 after an 18th place Martinsville finish. It’s clear all eyes are on 2026 for 23XI (and probably more importantly, the lawsuit). Wallace was wrecked early in the first Phoenix race, and this doesn’t seem to be one of his best tracks. He only has 3 top 10s in his 15 stars here. With that being said, 2 of those have come in the last 4 races, and both were the season finale.  9: Joey Logano captured his 12th top 10 of the year, but it was too little, too late for the 22 team. Logano failed to make the final 4, which was expected. After all, the year ends in an odd number; we’ll see how he shows up next year. Logano has 4 wins at Phoenix: his 2 most recent Cup titles, spring of 2020, and fall of 2016. I don’t think he wins, just judging by how the year has gone, but he, and all of Team Penske, for that matter, should be competitive. 8: Tyler Reddick maintains 8th after an 11th place, one spot shy of 5 top 10s in a row. Reddick only mustered P20 in the spring, which seems to be the trend. Every Phoenix finish for Reddick has been top 6 (minus one 10th) or 20th or worse (minus 2 P19s). Much like his teammate, though, I see too many distractions for this team to make a legitimate run at the win, however. 7: Chase Briscoe falls to 7, which is really funny considering I think he wins the title this year. But, when you have an engine failure the week before the championship, eyebrows start to raise. Briscoe has prior success at this track, winning his first ever Cup race here in 2022. Briscoe did finish 35th after a wreck in the spring, along with just a poor overall run, but that was before he and this 19 team bonded the way they have since the summer. Briscoe is eyeing his first title, but this team is going to need a Scot-free day to do so. 6: Chase Elliott moves to 6th after a P3 ended his playoffs just one race early. A really solid 2nd half of the season that saw this team start to be competitive finally also saw them get more and more inconsistent as well. Top 5s turned into race winning runs, but as a result, mid pack runs turned into DNFs, and those proved to be too much for Elliott to overcome. Elliott finished 10th in the spring at Phoenix, and he’s looking for one more solid run to close out a good season for the 9 team. 5: Much like his teammate, Denny Hamlin is going to drop because of an engine failure. It’s one thing to run mediocre at Talladega when locked into the Championship 4…it’s another to blow an engine at a flat, 750 horsepower racetrack the week before a champion is crowned. Hamlin has 2 wins at Phoenix, but the last time this happened, he still had Erik Jones as a teammate, so it’s been a while. Hamlin did finish 2nd by just a few feet in the spring, though. 4: Ryan Blaney came one spot and 30ish laps short of a 3rd straight Championship 4 berth. A 2nd for Blaney wasn’t enough to overcome his consecutive sub 20th place finishes before Martinsville. While Blaney doesn’t have a win at Phoenix, he does has 9 straight top 10s, (8 of which are inside the top 6, 4 of which are P2s) if you take away his most recent run, where his engine grenaded down the backstretch, resulting in a P28. Blaney would easily be the title favorite if ol’ Willy B didn’t give him the bumper. 3: Kyle Larson just snuck his way into the Championship 4 by only a few points over Christopher Bell. A P5 was just good enough to lock him in, which sets Larson up for his 2nd title in 5 seasons. Larson finished 3rd at Phoenix early in the year, his 5th top 10 in the last 6 starts and 11th in the last 14. In that mix was Larson’s only Phoenix win, his 2021 Championship.  2: The playoffs are cruel. Christopher Bell has only finished outside the top 8 once in the playoffs, with that being the very first race, the Southern 500. Since then, (the last 8 races) Bell has an average finish of 4.75. In the Round of 8, Bell had an average finish of 6, (Larson had 11, Briscoe had 14, Hamlin had 20, and Byron had 20.67, for reference.) Christopher Bell should be fighting for a chance at his first NASCAR title, but instead, has to settle with a best possible result of 5th for a 2nd straight year in a row. Not to mention, he won this race in the spring. Oh well, you know the spiel by now. Bright lights, and all that… 1: Who else but William Byron to top the list? Even though his 2 finishes before Martinsville were terrible, he was running top 5 in both before wrecks took him out late. Byron finished 6th at Phoenix in the spring and won at Phoenix in early 2023. He’s led laps in 5 of the last 7, and finished top 6 in 5 of the last 6. In the Next Gen, only Ryan Blaney has a better average finish (6.4 to an 8.0). Hands down, Byron is the favorite to win both this weekend and, more importantly, the Championship.

The results from the weekend were not what we had expected. With only 7 spots available for the next round of the final’s series, the pressure was on. In first qualifying, one driver was already feeling the pressure with Brodie Kostecki unfortunately crashing into the barrier and severely damaging the car, so much so it had to be taken back to the factory to be fixed overnight. This left his finals hopes hanging in the balance with only a win on race 29 that would save him. Brodie Kostecki with a massive shunt in qualifying for race 28. Both the drivers and photographers were okay. Race 28 was full of dramas for various teams, including Ryan Wood who had a great qualifying session, starting on pole position but soon having a leak that would result in him being very far behind the rest of the field and unable to help his finals chances. His teammate however, Chaz Mostert ensured his position in the finals having won race 28. It was going to be difficult given the drivers as well as all the dramas in this race alone, but he managed brilliantly.   Our first safety car period involved loose barrier signage that was needed to be fixed before we could go racing, once we did though it was every man for themselves. Broc Feeney led after the first safety car, ahead of Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert. Not too much later and we had our second safety car, after a crash involving Cooper Murray and Jaxon Evans, luckily both were okay, but damage to both cars meant they would not be able to continue. Our next restart was also clean, with all drivers managing well, although Broc Feeney was quick to make a mistake that saw the top 3 significantly closer. Stanaway also received damage in a later battle fighting between P10 to P14, this would drop him to the back of the field and finishing just ahead of Wood. Race 28 start at the Gold Coast 500 with Ryan wood leading from Feeney and Payne. By lap 38, Mostert was finally able to overtake Waters and go for the top spot. It was a clean chase for Mostert as eventually he was able to catch up and overtake Feeney. The gap between Mostert and Feeney quickly grew to almost 3 seconds, which was going to make it difficult to regain that position.   Penalties were given out to car 19, Matt Payne for an unsafe release in the pitlane, which was served about halfway through the race, whilst Will Davison received a 5 second penalty for a driving infringement. But in the end, it was the win for Chaz Mostert who was extremely happy about the result and secured his spot in the next weekend of finals. Finishing in P2, was Broc Feeney who similarly also qualified for the next round of finals. Finally, in P3, in an unexpected result and after pitstops paid off was Kai Allen, who drove exceptionally well and was also to defend against those behind him.   But after this race, we expected similar results from the next day. Brodie Kosteckis car had been worked on overnight and had been completed, meaning he was able to race in race 29 of the championship. It was a huge ask for him to have success in the next race, but a bad qualifying result was not going to help with him starting in P14. Another driver who we did not expect to be that low was Ryan Wood who started P13 and after Saturday’s race, he would have been looking to try and regain his spot in the next round. Kostecki's car returns to the pit lane after being worked on overnight at the DJR factory. In the shootout, it was Broc Feeney who took the top spot, followed by Matt Payne in P2 and Chaz Mostert in P3. It was a good start, with very little going on and some hard racing from the top 5. There were still 5 spots up for grabs in the next round and 8 drivers looking to make their mark.   Will Davison was an early pitstop for a new tyre after an incident with Bryce Fullwood, which would cost Fullwood a pitlane penalty. Similarly, Kostecki and Wood also found themselves doing an early pitstop on lap 6 to try and make some moves in the field, these two were desperate to make up spots. Amongst the minor moments was Fullwood who had a minor collision with a barrier but was able to continue. We saw teammates overtaking each other including Payne overtaking Allen on lap 19.   Nick Percat was our first talk, given he had a broken shock absorber, and the car was to be reapired. He came into the pitlane and by lap 41, he was ready to return to the car and continue his race. This had damaged his overall position on track but had no effect in the finals. An unfortunate 5 second penalty was later given to Richie Stanaway for a driving infringement, but eventually his race would result in him not finishing. Another driver with a tough race was the hometown hero, James Courtney who was forced to retire after a collision with teammate Anton De Pasquale, who attempted to make a move at turn 11 and instead hit Courtney. De Pasquale received a 15 second penalty for the incident which he claimed was “unfair”. James Courtney very unimpressed with teammate Anton De Pasquale after crashing into him and being unable to finish the race. At the end of the day, someone had to win race 29. And for Walkinshaw Andretti United, it was a double race win for their driver Chaz Mostert, taking out race 29 as well. Broc Feeney joined him on the podium again in P2, and another unexpected P3 was Andre Heimgartner. Chaz Mostert with the double win at the Gold Coast 500. As for the finals hopes, the 3 eliminated drivers from the final’s series were unfortunately Ryan Wood with a tough weekend on the Gold Coast, Brodie Kostecki who had a decent recovery but just wasn’t enough and Anton De Pasquale after his penalty dropped him down too far to salvage his finals chances.   After that weekend, there was lots to look over and evaluate, especially for the remaining 7 in the finals. At the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, which starts on November 14th, there’s still plenty to play for with only 4 positions in the Grand Final at the BP Adelaide 500. An exciting weekend ahead at the Sandown 500.

The US Grand Prix was a weekend of very unexpected results, especially the sprint race. With the McLaren pairing fighting for the championship, there was plenty of doors left open for their rivals. McLaren having a double DNF during the sprint race, by no fault of their own, allowed their biggest rival Max Verstappen to close the gap to both drivers by quite a lot. Ferrari was also able to gain essential points for their constructor title fight against Red Bull Racing and Mercedes. Race Results: As for the race, it was a high degradation for the tyres with most teams struggling on their strategy choice. Overall, it was the weekend for Max Verstappen, taking out not only the sprint race win, but also the main race as well. He was able to manage the tyres much better than his opponents and taking out an easy result, which was essential for his championship contention. He managed to gain an easy 33 points over the span of the weekend. Lando Norris managed to take out P2, which was also essential to the title fight against his teammate. He however had plenty of gain on the weekend after the sprint race DNF, he needed the points. He also had the difficulty of passing Charles Leclerc who ultimately would finish P3. It was the right tyre strategy and overall management that helped Leclerc finish on the final podium spot. Your 2025 US Grand Prix Podium; Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton managed to finish the weekend out strong with a P4 in both the sprint and the main race. His strategy was difficult to manage in the race, given finishing the race on a set of softs, but with his experience it was able to be done. Oscar Piastri had a similar weekend to teammate Norris, given the DNF in the sprint race, but managed to regain some points in the main race finishing P5. He was able to defend against other drivers around but struggled to keep up with the top 4 positions. Yuki Tsunoda had a great result finishing P7 in both the sprint race and the main race. He had a strong weekend with vital points and proving his capability as a driver. His defence against the likes of Oliver Bearman were also important to note for his overall results.   The Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had a different weekend to the previous race. George was able to get major points in the sprint race with p2 and gaining 7 points, whilst Kimi received the last spot in the top 8 and gained 1 point. For the race itself, it was quieter for the duo, with George Russell finishing in P6, whilst Kimi Antonelli was unable to make it to the top 10, after an incident with Carlos Sainz reduced his chances, he went on to finish P13. George Russell during the weekend at the US Grand Prix. The remaining three in the top 10, had decent weekends with Nico Hulkenberg scoring his first points since his Silverstone podium. It was a brilliant drive from him, coming home to finish P8. P9 was Oliver Bearman and after the sprint race, he would be determined to perform as he was given a 10 second penalty in the sprint race which dropped him to the back of the grid. He drove great during the main race, even having a moment with Yuki Tsunoda halfway through. Finally, P10 was Fernando Alonso and like Bearman he had something to prove, given Aston Martins double DNF in the sprint race. He had a much cleaner race and was able to get a vital point for the team.   Their teammates were not necessarily able to provide points but still were helpful for the team. Gabriel Bortoleto unfortunately was stuck quite far at the back but still had some good battles between the alpine pairing, going on to finish P18. Esteban Ocon was desperate for a better result as well, given the DNF in the sprint, he could not gain any points but still had a good result overall. Ocon would finish P15. Lance Stroll had a quiet weekend and wanted to perform for the team and himself. He was extremely close to getting into the top 10 but just did not have the pace to keep up with those ahead of him. He finished just behind his teammate and Racing Bulls driver, Liam Lawson, finishing P12. The moment during the sprint race that both Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll had to DNF. The Racing Bulls pairing unfortunately had a weekend to forget, with both drivers outside the top 10 in the sprint race as well as the main race. They had a very difficult time with getting stuck in battles with other drivers, to just being unable to keep up with those around them. Liam Lawson was able to finish in P11, whilst Isack Hadjar finished in P16. Alpine was another team with a bad result, especially with Franco Colapinto who felt he could not keep behind teammate Pierre Gasly, both drivers had a tough result. Franco Colapinto finished in P17, and teammate Pierre Gasly in P19.   Finally, our last duo, Williams. Their sprint race was great, with both drivers scoring points for the team. Carlos Sainz managed to finish in P3, whilst teammate Alex Albon finished in P6. However, they had a tough race with Carlos Sainz with a DNF after his incident with Kimi Antonelli. This incident will also cost him this weekend in Mexico as a 5-place grid penalty. Before that, he was doing well with pace and keeping up to the pack. Alex Albon was stuck in the middle of the grid and just unable to make a break for the top 10. He later went on to finish P14. The unfortunate moment that Carlos Sainz had to DNF during the US Grand Prix. This weekend, we head back to Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix. This is a high-altitude track, so cars may be tough to drive. Some teams may find this easier, whilst others may struggle. We will also see 9 reserve drivers in the seats for the Free Practice One. This includes Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Antonio Fuoco (Ferrari), Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull), Luke Browning (Williams), Jak Crawford (Aston Martin), Ryo Hirakawa (Haas), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls) and Paul Aron (Alpine). The race start from the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix.

Honorable Mention: Even though the result sheets don’t show it, Chris Buescher had a great run on Sunday, making his way to the lead with 4 laps to go. It was short lived, however, as Buescher was soon sent spinning towards the inside wall, nearly identical to the way his race ended in the spring. (Not-so-fun fact, these will both go down as the only DNFs of the year for Chris, barring the last 2 races run off as normal). This was probably the last chance for Chris, and RFK as a whole, to win a race this year, unless his teammate in the 60 can make some magic happen at this weekend.  10. Joey Logano may have just seen his title hopes go up in flames. After leading 35 laps throughout the day, Logano was seemingly absent after a spin by Cody Ware brought out the caution with 20 laps to go. Maybe his reputation caught up to him, because it seemed like nobody wanted to push the Shell Pennzoil 22 late. He now sits 38 points below the cutline after a 16th place finish, not quite must-win territory, but he’s going to need some shenanigans to happen if he’s not going to outright win and still make it. He only has 1 previous win at Martinsville, but everyone remembers what it was. Can he repeat his 2018 magic and make a run at a 4th championship? (Probably not, it’s an odd numbered year). 9. Tyler Reddick came home 7th after a solid Talladega run but he drops a spot to his teammate. Since joining 23XI, Reddick has an average finish of 20.6 at Martinsville, yikes. Much like Chris Buescher, Talladega looked to be Reddick’s last shot at a victory this year, and they came up just a little short.  8. Bubba Wallace moves up to 8th. Can’t put too much stock in a superspeedway race, but a P4 for Bubba is a solid outing on a disappointing playoffs. Wallace heads to Martinsville, and while it looks somewhat bleak, considering the fact that in his 15 starts, he only has 4 top 10s, it does look brighter when you realize all 4 are in the last 6 races, including a 3rd in the last race run here. Wallace was always noted as a good short track racer coming up through the ranks, so expect the 23 to run well. 7. Chase Elliott drops to 7 after a bad, bad race. Through no fault of his own, Elliott was out only 51 laps in. Elliott has won at Martinsville before, but only once, all the way back in 2020, which led him to his first championship. His last 3 runs at Martinsville have been 4th, 2nd, and 3rd, so to say that he’s going to have a chance to match his 2020 run this week is an understatement. It’s put up or shut up time for Elliott. 6. The bad news? Ryan Blaney had a surprisingly quiet day, only leading 3 laps and finishing 23rd. He fell to 47 behind the cutline. The good news? He has the best average finish of all drivers at Martinsville in the Next Gen era, with a 4.6, the next closest being Kyle Larson with a 5.4. He has 2 wins, both coming in the previous 2 fall races at Martinsville. 3 times Blaney has finished 11th, earlier in the season and both races in 2021. Take those away, and he hasn’t finished outside the top 7 since 2018. If there’s ever a place you want to go needing a win as a Blaney fan, it’s Martinsville. 5. Chase Briscoe jumps up after his win at Talladega locks himself into the Championship Round, along with his teammate Denny Hamlin. His Martinsville stats don’t matter, but I’ll give them to you anyways. 6 of his last 7 starts at Martinsville have been to 10s, the lone outlier being a P15 in this race last year. If you go back to the rule we had earlier in the year, if MTJ was good here, expect the same from Briscoe, I’d say Chase is in for a good run, not that it matters in the slightest.  4. Speaking of good runs that don’t matter in the slightest, Denny Hamlin at Martinsville. His Las Vegas win locked him into the Championship Round with his teammate, and a 24th place run at Talladega was all that he needed. A clean run, no enemies made, no wrecked race car, a solid bring-it-home-in-one-piece type of day. Hamlin won the last race at Martinsville, but that was his first clock since 2015.  3. William Byron…you gotta feel for him. A 2nd place run ruined by pit road miscommunication followed up by a 24th place finish at Talladega, after leading the field to the overtime restart and sitting in 5th on the trioval. What was a great all-around season is now a near must-win at Martinsville, with a 36 point deficit to his teammate, Kyle Larson. Byron has won at Martinsville twice before, in the spring of 2022 and 2024, but had a rare miss earlier this year, only mustering a 22nd place finish. He’s going to need a, bare minimum, really good run if he wants a shot at his first title.  2. Kyle Larson drops to 2nd. Much like his teammate, he was leading with 2 to go, and much like his teammate, Larson ran out of gas and dropped to 26th on the last lap. Unlike his teammate, however, Larson is 36 above instead of below. Larson has won at Martinsville once, back in the spring of 2023, and he’s finished top 6 every race in the Next Gen outside the inaugural one, which saw a 19th place run. The only number that matters to Larson, however, is 22 (and six seven, according to his radio). That’s how many races it’s been since he last went to victory lane. Winning this week would tie a record that Larson would really not want to break, that being the longest streak without a win for him in the 5 car (race 2 to race 25 of the 2022 season, Auto Club to Watkins Glen). 1. Christopher Bell sits atop the standings. Other than Briscoe winning, he’s the only playoff driver with a top 15 finish, coming home 8th. This leaves him in a more than favorable position, sitting 37 above the cutline, a healthy gap unless we get a bottom 4 driver winning, in which then his gap to Kyle Larson would only be a measly 1 point, as of right now. Bell won at Martinsville in 2022 to advance himself to the title round, as well as finishing 2nd here earlier this year. A solid run should be enough to have him fight for a championship, as long as we don’t get a new winner.