Kyle Larson won at Bristol Motor Speedway, which wasn't really a big surprise or even the most interesting thing that happened Saturday night during the first elimination race of this year's NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Bristol Motor Speedway can be a beast. The .533-mile concrete bullring in northeast Tennessee has tight quarters, so traffic can often be an impediment, and a lack of patience or loss of tempers can easily alter the outcome of a race.

Homestead-Miami Speedway will return to the playoff portion of the season in 2022, while the St. Louis area was awarded a Cup Series race and NASCAR will compete on Easter Sunday for the first time in more than three decades in schedule changes released Wednesday.

J-G-R. Easy as 1-2-3. For the sixth time in Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR Cup Series history.

Denny Hamlin shook off a difficult week in the best way possible.

For all the potential outcomes that could have occurred Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale was somewhat predictable.

There's one guy Tyler Reddick doesn't expect any help from Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway: Austin Dillon, who happens to be his teammate.

Ryan Blaney's Team Penske Ford needed a push to pass William Byron's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during a pivotal moment Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. A Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota provided the boost.

One by one, drivers sped across the deteriorating curbing in the fifth and sixth turns late in the Brickyard 200. One by one, they veered off course.

AJ Allmendinger screamed in elation Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Just about every other NASCAR Cup Series driver left the famed motorsports venue frustrated, angry or bewildered by a bizarre Brickyard 200 finish.

It took five wins by Kyle Larson to catch the most consistent driver in NASCAR's Cup Series this season, but he finally did it.

Marcus Ericsson thought for sure his car would snap in half as he treated the slowed car in front of him like some sort of Monster Jam ramp and soared through the air and leapfrogged a spot before he slammed onto the asphalt.

Kyle Larson took another step toward the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season title. Chase Elliott lamented a race that he let get away.

With darkness closing in at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Aric Almirola sprung to life late in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race and pulled off a surprise victory, the first win of the year for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Rick Hendrick gave Kyle Larson a second chance in NASCAR because Hendrick Motorsports had wanted him in its lineup for years. Now that Hendrick has his man, he has locked Larson down for two more seasons with full sponsorship.

The Busch brothers are banging on the Allisons' rear bumper for the top spot on the list of NASCAR Cup Series wins by siblings.

Kurt Busch asked for a final favor from Atlanta Motor Speedway's old, battered track. His wish came true on the aged asphalt's farewell race.

NASCAR drivers for 24 years lobbied against a repave at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The company that owns the track said it is done giving the competitors the final word in a long-overdue paving project.

After telling the world he was pulling out of NASCAR, Chip Ganassi returned home to Pittsburgh for sushi dinner with drivers Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande, his house guests for a week between sports car races.

Even starting near the back of the pack couldn't prevent Chase Elliott from continuing his uncanny success on road courses.

Chip Ganassi sold his NASCAR team to Justin Marks, owner of Trackhouse Racing, and declared Wednesday that he will pull out of the nation's top stock car series at the end of this season.

There's a pointed episode in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s television show that encapsulates his remarkable transformation from a bashful, third-generation racer into a multimedia personality.

Kyle Busch came through in the clutch, even when he drove without one, and busted Hendrick Motorsports' winning streak to deny the organization a shot at NASCAR history when he raced to his second victory of the season.