NASCAR
Denny Hamlin Edges Dale Earnhardt Jr. In eNASCAR Race At Virtual Homestead Miami Speedway
Denny Hamlin edged Dale Earnhardt Jr to win Sunday’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series opener at virtual Homestead Miami Speedway.
Earnhardt was leading going into the final turn but the pair got together in Turn 4 and Hamlin was able to get off the turn and down the front straightaway for the virtual victory.
“He was smart to kind of block the bottom there because the bottom lane at Homestead on iRacing just has tremendous more grip than what the lane I was running in, but I knew that the difference in the two lanes was about a tenth and a half to two tenths, and I thought my tires were about three tenths better,” said Hamlin. “I thought as long as I got beside him, I was going to be able to complete it, even though he was in the preferred groove.”
“I think I probably gave Denny a little more room than I really wanted to, but I had to keep from crashing him or anybody else,” said Earnhardt Jr. “I thought I might have been able to get a photo finish at the line, but we got together in [Turn] 4 and I about wrecked there. But it was a fun race. Denny had better tires and he was just really, really fast, but it was a good race.’’
Timmy Hill, Chase Briscoe and pole-winner Garrett Smithley rounded out the top five.
Rounding out the top 10 were Cup Series regulars Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece. Gander Trucks driver Ty Majeski finished ninth followed by Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series teammate Erik Jones in 10th.
Hamlin was pleased to see the racing community come together to put on a show for the fans.
“It was a great event,” said Hamlin. “The thing is that nobody got together and said, Hey, let’s all do this. I think everyone just started doing it, and then iRacing got involved and emailed everyone, said, ‘Hey, this is what we’re thinking about’. NASCAR got involved, television got involved and said they’d be interested. So, I think it all just came together. But no one really talked to the drivers about unifying and participating. It was all free will, and that’s what’s exciting is you had 25-plus full-time Cup guys out there willing to spend their time doing this.”
Hamlin hopes the event and others that are planned attract some new fans to NASCAR.
“I think at one time it was No. 1 trending (on social media), so that’s really, really big,” said Hamlin. You know, although NASCAR has its struggles at times, for the regular fan to go out and simulate a game-winning shot or game-winning pass, like iRacing has given them that platform, and there’s no other sport — like NBA players can’t go play NBA2K and put it on TV and make it look like the real thing. You can’t go play Madden and make it look like the real thing. There’s so much animation. But iRacing’s platform, like we really — this is something that really can gain a lot of traction simply because it’s as real as it gets. I’m excited that this was just a first step and hopefully something that builds for years and years to come.”
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
WINSTON SALEM, NC (February 4, 2026) – Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom of night could keep Ryan Preece from his appointed rounds at Bowman Gray Stadium.
On wet-weather tires, on a track peppered with a wintry mix during the 100-lap break, Preece navigated the glazed asphalt at the historic quarter-mile track to win the second Cook Out Clash staged in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Historically heavy snow already had forced postponement of the season-opening NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race twice, but for the 35-year-old driver from Berlin, Connecticut, the victory on Wednesday night was well worth the wait.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Preece, tears in his eyes as he climbed from his car to the cheers of hardy fans who had braved the rain and bone-chilling temperatures. “To be honest with you, it’s been a freaking long road.
“It’s the Clash, but, man, it’s been years and years of grinding … Two years ago, I didn’t think I was going to have a job. I thought I was going back to Connecticut.”
Preece, however, secured a ride in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford after Stewart-Haas Racing closed its doors at the end of the 2024 season.
On Wednesday night, he led the final 45 laps after taking the top spot on Lap 156, muscling his way past Shane van Gisbergen after a restart four laps earlier.
In a rock ’em, sock ’em free-for-all that featured a Clash-record 17 cautions, Preece pulled away after the final restart on Lap 182 of 200 to beat runner-up William Byron to the finish line by 1.752 seconds.
Preece is the third driver to win the Clash before winning a NASCAR Cup Series points race, joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin in that distinction.
The modified star, who started 18th and worked his way forward before and after the halfway break, extended one streak and broke another. He is the ninth straight different driver to win the Clash, but he’s the first to win from outside the first two rows since the Clash went to a quarter-mile format at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2022.
Ryan Blaney ran third, followed by Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin. Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.
Pole winner and reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson led a race-high 67 laps to Preece’s 46, but Larson’s race fell apart after rain and sleet covered the track, leading to a 16th-place result after the change from slick tires to wet-weather rubber.
For the second straight year, Josh Berry raced into the main event from the Last Chance Qualifier. After passing AJ Allmendinger for the top spot on Lap 18 of 75, Berry led the rest of the way in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford and finished 7.419 seconds clear of runner-up Austin Cindric.
The field for the Clash wasn’t set, however, until AJ Allmendinger shoved Cindric past Corey LaJoie in the final corner, allowing Cindric to secure the second of two spots available through the LCQ.
From Lap 62 on, Cindric and Lajoie had battled for the runner-up position, with Cindric securing the inside position for the final four circuits.
“You, wanted to be on the inside, obviously, but you don’t want to pass the guy, ‘cause then he has the opportunity to get back to you,” said LaJoie, who was subbing for injured Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford.
“It was exciting. It was fun to be in the fight. I hadn’t been in a fight like that in a long time.”
Allmendinger, who finished fourth behind LaJoie, was in the mix until the finish.
“I had the plan set up perfect,” said Allmendinger, who intended to move both Cindric and LaJoie up the track on the final lap. “I just didn’t execute. I went down in there to kind of shove ‘em both out of the way, and we didn’t have enough grip to throttle back up and beat ‘em to the line.”
Berry started 21st in the Clash and finished 12th. Cindric started 22nd and ran 21st after a litany of issues.
Bowman started last (23rd) in the Clash field on a provisional as the highest finisher in the 2025 standings not already in the field though qualifying or the LCQ.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (February 3, 2026) – Four-time IndyCar Champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti is returning to the cockpit to compete in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) race at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
Franchitti will drive the No. 1 Dollar Tree Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in a partnership between TRICON Garage (TRICON), Jimmie Johnson and Legacy Motor Club. (LEGACY MC) for the Scotsman’s first NASCAR race in 17-years.
“The thought of racing a NASCAR truck on a street circuit is really intriguing to me,” said Franchitti, who is an advisor and driver coach at Chip Ganassi Racing. “The different surfaces, the fact that part of it is on an airport, then you go into the streets, the different bumps all those things you got to try and master. This was just the chance to race on a circuit that I love, and a chance to do something fun.”
Franchitti has remained deeply involved in motorsports as a broadcast analyst and as an advisor and driver coach at Chip Ganassi Racing, following a brutal crash at Houston in 2013. Franchitti began competing in historic car events in 2019 allowing him to still fulfill his love of driving. Teaming up with his friend and fellow racing Champion made it all that much more intriguing.
“This all stemmed from a conversation with Jimmie,” said Franchitti. “The opportunity to race the truck, it was really him, it was the whole team that he has there [at LEGACY MC] that made it all happen. His relationship with Toyota, Dollar Tree coming on a sponsor — it’s all been through Jimmie and the team at LEGACY MC. If it goes well, great. If it doesn’t go well, I am going to be blaming Jimmie.”
Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished drivers of his generation, Franchitti has a decorated résumé at the highest levels of open-wheel motorsports. The Scottish driver captured the IndyCar Series championship in 2007 followed by three consecutive championships from 2009 to 2011. His 31 career wins between IndyCar and CART, highlighted by Indianapolis 500 triumphs in 2007, 2010 and 2012, includes a victory at the 1.8-mile St. Petersburg street course on March 27, 2011, in a dominant performance leading 94 out of 100 laps.
“Dario and I had been talking for a long time about the chance to race together, so when he approached me about St. Petersburg, I knew I had to get to work,” explained Johnson. “I called him back a day later with an incredible opportunity to join a championship-winning team with Toyota and the great people at TRICON.”
It will be role reversal to a degree for the duo as Franchitti mentored Johnson when the 7-time NASCAR Champion went IndyCar racing with CGR in 2021 & 2022.
“It’s been a lot of fun getting him integrated into the team and spending more time together, going through the process of getting him back to racing,” said Johnson. “I’m so excited it all came together and thankful that Dollar Tree is going to support. I am looking forward to sitting on the pit box alongside the team and sharing this experience with Dario.”
The NCTS Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is scheduled for Saturday February 28 at 12 p.m. ET, with broadcast coverage on FOX and radio coverage on SiriusXM and the NASCAR Racing Network.
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
(February 1, 2026) – Unexpectedly heavy snow from Saturday’s storm over the Southeast forced a second postponement of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The season-opening NASCAR Cup Series exhibition race will move from Monday to Wednesday, with practice and qualifying set to open the proceedings at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The 75-lap Last Chance Qualifying Race will take place at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by the 200-lap Clash at 6 p.m. ET.
Practice and qualifying, consisting of three groups, will be broadcast on the Fox Sports App, with FOX picking up the coverage of the Last Chance Qualifier and Clash main event.
MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will broadcast all components of the racing action on Wednesday.
“This event is for the fans, and the fans at The Madhouse are some of the most passionate fans in all of sports,” said Justin Swilling, project lead for the Cook Out Clash.
“Moving the Cook Out Clash to Wednesday, Feb. 4, gives us the best opportunity to hold this event with fans at Bowman Gray Stadium while allowing the City of Winston-Salem to dedicate all of their resources to respond to the needs created by this historic weather event.”
NASCAR is continuing to work closely with the City of Winston-Salem and North Carolina Department of Transportation on the on-going impacts of the historic winter weather in the city and surrounding region to host a safe event.
Parking lots will open Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. with off-site shuttle services beginning at noon. Gates will open at 12:30 p.m.
Ticket holders can get more information at www.nascarclash.com/weather or by calling 855-525-7223.
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