NASCAR

Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson announced Friday he's returning to NASCAR in 2023 as a minority owner and part-time driver for Petty GMS Motorsports.

Johnson told Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press he'll compete in about five Cup Series races next year, beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500, an event he's won twice (2006 and 2013).

"I've had a watchful eye on the ownership part and what's happening with NASCAR, and the opportunity that I have here, the business structure and the model with NASCAR charters is just so different from than anything else in motorsports," Johnson said. "I want to be part of it. We certainly watched Michael Jordan join, what the Trackhouse Racing folks have done, and there's all these rumors of people who want to get into the sport. I'm honored and thankful that I'm going to be part of it."

The 47-year-old California native spent two decades with Hendrick Motorsports before leaving the Cup Series after the 2020 season.

He recorded 83 wins and 374 top-10 finishes in 686 starts during that 20-year tenure. He won NASCAR's top title in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2016.

Johnson spent the past two years in the IndyCar Series with Chip Ganassi Racing. He finished 21st in the 2022 standings before he announced in September he'd step away from a full-time racing schedule.

"This was a difficult choice for me, but in my heart I know it's the right one," he said in a statement at the time. "I'm not exactly sure what the next chapter holds, but if an opportunity comes along that makes sense I will consider it. I still have a bucket list of racing events I would like to take part in."

Petty GMS Motorsports features two full-time cars in the Cup Series: the No. 42, which will switch drivers from Ty Dillon to Noah Gragson in 2023, and the No. 43 driven by Erik Jones.

Details for Johnson's car and sponsors for his limited schedule remain a work in progress, per Fryer.

This year's Cup Series schedule will wrap up Sunday when Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott compete for the championship.

The 2023 Daytona 500 is scheduled for Feb. 19.

Christopher Bell qualified for the Championship 4 of the NASCAR Cup Series with a victory Sunday at Martinsville Speedway in the Xfinity 500.

Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain will join him in battling for the points title.

Chastain narrowly qualified after edging out Denny Hamlin to the last championship berth, and he left fans at a loss for words because of the tactic he deployed to secure a fifth-place finish.

The 29-year-old put his foot on the gas and used the outer wall to guide him around the track.

No matter how the season ends for Chastain, this will become the stuff of NASCAR legend.

Entering Sunday, three of the four championship round spots remained up for grabs. Joey Logano guaranteed himself a place in the next round with a win in the South Point 400 on Oct. 16. Kyle Larson's victory the following week meant nothing else was settled.

Hamlin and Elliott banked valuable points by placing first and second, respectively, in the first two stages of the race. Heading into the final stage, they were both on pace to qualify for the Championship 4.

Neither could afford to rest on his laurels, though, especially with Bell making his way to the top of the field. Ryan Blaney was looking to play the role of spoiler as well. In need of a win to advance, he was running behind Bell deep into the final stage.

Whether Bell or Blaney led the field, Chastain found himself as the odd man out in both scenarios.

Many of the top contenders used a caution in the late stages as an opportunity to head to pit road. When the race resumed with 23 laps remaining, Chase Briscoe had climbed into first place, and Chastain overtook Hamlin.

It didn't take long for Hamlin to not only pass Chastain but also open a wide enough gap for him to reclaim fourth place in the playoff standings.

As that was unfolding, Briscoe was in a tense battle with Bell and Brad Keselowski to hold on to first. The pit stops proved pivotal as Bell had the better car and fresher tires down the stretch. With four laps remaining, he passed Briscoe and surged ahead to remove any drama in the final outcome.

Hamlin might have thought he was coasting to the result he required, too, only to see his title hopes evaporate in a matter of moments.

In the end, it was a straightforward win for Bell, and Chastain delivered the moment that's likely to be remembered the most.

The NASCAR Cup Series will end its 2022 season at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, on Nov. 6.

No Championship 4 spot was clinched at the Dixie Vodka 400 on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

But Kyle Larson did win his third race of the season, dominating the field by winning each stage and leading for 199 laps.

That means three spots are still hanging in the balance with just one race in this qualification period, with Joey Logano already securing his berth last week.

As for Sunday's race, Ross Chastain finished second and put himself in excellent position to qualify for a Championship 4 berth, while AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.

But Sunday was all about Larson.

"Definitely the best run we've had all year long," he said after the race.

He was also the subject of one of the day's more bizarre moments, when he bumped Martin Truex Jr. from behind in pit row late in the race after a Tyler Reddick spinout and caution. At the time, Truex was the race leader, but after the bump, he ultimately dropped to 19th.

"It was really hard to see with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it [windshield]," Truex said after the race. "I did see my box late for sure. ... Obviously, part of that was on me. I didn't expect to get turned around. I'm glad nobody got hurt there."

"I was just going behind him, and he did a left and was hard on the brakes at the same time," Larson added. "I ran right in the back of him. My team said he was late turning into his stall. If it was my fault, I'm sorry, but I don't think it was. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat."

The last three spots in the Championship 4 will be decided next Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway's Xfinity 500 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

NASCAR has suspended Bubba Wallace from Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway following his altercation with Kyle Larson in the South Point 400 last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it announced Tuesday.

In a statement, NASCAR said Wallace violated several sections of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct, including "intentionally wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result."

After Larson nudged Wallace into the wall during the South Point 400, the 23XI Racing driver followed Larson down the track and hit the right rear of his car in retaliation, sending him spinning into the outside wall.

After both drivers came out of their cars, Wallace threw his hands up, began yelling at Larson and shoved him multiple times before the two were separated.

Immediately after the race, Wallace expressed frustration with Larson while speaking with NBC Sports, per NASCAR.com:

“When you get shoved in the fence, deliberately like [Larson] did, trying to force me to lift—the steering was gone, and he just so happened to be there. I hate it for our team. We had a super-fast car—not on short-run speed, we were kind of falling back there and Larson wanted to make it a three-wide dive bomb.

“He never cleared me. I don’t lift. I know I’m kind of new to running up front, but I don’t lift. I wasn’t even in a spot to lift, he never lifted either and now we are junk.”

Larson told reporters that he wasn't surprised Wallace retaliated, saying, "He had a reason to be mad, but his race wasn't over until he retaliated."

After having some time to reflect on the incident, Wallace issued an apology on social media:

Wallace did not qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, while Larson was eliminated from the postseason after finishing 35th in the Round of 12 elimination race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9.

Joey Logano, who won the South Point 400, was the first driver to qualify for NASCAR's championship finale. He is in first place with 4,084 points. Ross Chastain, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin round out the top four.

The Round of 8 will continue Sunday with the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Martinsville Speedway race on Oct. 30 will finish off the Round of 8, and the Championship 4 is set for Nov. 6 at Phoenix Raceway.

Welcome to the Championship 4, Joey Logano.

The veteran driver clinched his spot Sunday, winning the South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after holding off Ross Chastain.

Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Chase Elliott, who came into the day atop the playoff standings, finished 21st. Here's where the rest of the playoff contenders not previously mentioned finished on Sunday:

• Christopher Bell: Did Not Finish
• William Byron: 13th
• Ryan Blaney: 28th

Chastain, Elliott and Hamlin are currently in position to qualify for the Championship 4, though much could change over the next two races.

Bell's day ended in tough fashion, as he was collateral damage in a mid-race spat between Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace—who won the first stage—that led to a crash, ended the day for all three drivers and led to a bit of a shoving match off the track:

Bell told reporters he and his team "got the short end of the stick" in the altercation between Larson and Wallace.

"It's disappointing because our performance is capable of racing for the championship, and it doesn't appear that we're going to get to," he added, as he now sits in eighth place in the playoff standings.

Blaney, meanwhile, was in second place Sunday and had already won the second stage when he lost control of his vehicle and hit the wall.

There was no such gaffe for Logano, however, who methodically tracked down Chastain over the final 10 laps and outmaneuvered him for the win. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Logano would find himself in contention—it's just what he does.

The second of three Round of 8 races will take place next Sunday at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, with the Dixie Vodka 400 set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Veteran driver Kurt Busch announced Saturday that he will not race again this season, nor will he run a full-time NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2023.

Busch made the announcement at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and also released the following statement on Twitter:

The 44-year-old Busch suffered a concussion during qualifying at Pocono in July, causing him to miss the past 13 races. Per Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, Busch got choked up Saturday when recalling that doctors told him "it is best for me to shut it down."

The crash that caused Busch's injury was a routine accident that wouldn't normally impact the driver significantly. Alex Bowman suffered a concussion in a similar crash recently, causing NASCAR drivers to speak out against the design of the Next Gen car.

Busch did not fully retire from NASCAR on Saturday, as he said he could run "a select few races" in 2023 if he is cleared by doctors, but the end of his full-time career is also the end of an era in NASCAR.

According to Fryer, Busch was the last active Cup Series driver who raced against the legendary Dale Earnhardt before his untimely death, and he was also the last active driver to compete in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series playoffs in 2004, called the Chase for the Cup.

Busch made his Cup Series debut in 2000 before becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2001. In just his fourth full Cup Series season in 2004, Busch won his first and only points championship while driving for Roush Racing.

He would finish 10th or better in the standings eight more times in his career, including a 10th-place finish with Chip Ganassi Racing just two seasons ago.

All told, Busch has won 34 Cup Series races in his career, while finishing in the top 10 on 339 occasions and securing 28 poles. Busch has also won five Xfinity Series races and four races in the Truck Series.

Prior to getting injured this season, Busch won at Kansas, which qualified him for the playoffs. He was unable to compete, though, and was replaced by Ty Gibbs.

Plans are already in place for Busch's No. 45 car with 23XI Racing next season. Tyler Reddick had been set to join the team in 2024, but he will join next season instead and drive the No. 45 Toyota.

Reddick was permitted to leave Richard Childress Racing one year earlier than originally planned since Busch's brother, Kyle Busch, signed on with RCR for the 2023 campaign.

Fellow NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing with basketball legend Michael Jordan, said Saturday that he hopes Busch will continue to be around the team and contribute however he can while still under contract through next season.

Christopher Bell is headed to the round of eight in the NASCAR playoffs.

Bell secured his spot with a dramatic victory in Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race went to overtime following a lengthy red flag near the end, and he outmaneuvered the field and earned the win he needed to advance.

His win wasn't the only drama, as Kyle Larson was among those eliminated as the field of eight was set:

The biggest storyline heading into Sunday's race at the twisty course was whether Chase Elliott would maintain his momentum after clinching his spot in the round of eight with last week's win at Talladega Superspeedway.

He also won two of the previous four races at the Charlotte road course and was the driver to beat heading into the final event of the round of 12.

Yet it was Joey Logano and Ross Chastain who made headlines in the first two stages.

Logano led all 25 laps in dominant fashion in the opening stage, clinching the playoff point that comes with it. And Chastain was forced to go to the rear before the race began because of unapproved adjustments for repairs but rallied back to win the second stage and the corresponding playoff point.

The drama came in Stage 3.

First, Corey LaJoie made contact with Chase Briscoe, and then Daniel Suárez tumbled down the standings as he battled on the fringe of the cut line as he experienced power steering problems.

It was a difficult break for Suárez at a key moment, bringing the pressure of the elimination race into focus, and he pitted in an effort to fix the issue before the final push. He also ended up making contact with LaJoie, underscoring the steering issues.

Chastain also went to the garage for repair work at a critical time as he attempted to remain ahead of the cut line, while Larson pitted in need of repairs.

As if that wasn't enough chaos, Elliott spun out in the final stretch after a restart and opened the door for Harvick to seize the lead in dramatic fashion.

It was the shake-up Bell needed to make a move, and he took full advantage in the overtime.