COREY LAJOIE

Chase Elliott salvaged a crummy day for Hendrick Motorsports and interrupted a potential Toyota rout by winning the rain-drenched race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday night.

Here's a look at the top stories making headlines on the "CBS Evening News," anchored by Jamie Yuccas.

Ryan Blaney won for the second consecutive week when the race Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway ended under caution in overtime with a typical fiery finish.

More than a year ago, NASCAR was one of the first major sports to resume competition in the pandemic, touting strict protocols as it headed back to the track.

Some of NASCAR's top drivers are taking extra health precautions for the playoff chase.

One week after Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe tangled on the track in NASCAR's Cup Series, they'll be back in action Sunday at Michigan.

Corey LaJoie will not be allowed to race at Michigan International Speedway this weekend because he’s been exposed to COVID-19 and hasn’t been vaccinated. And it stinks,” LaJoie told SirusXM NASCAR Radio. “I’m not a scientist, I’m not a politician, I’m a race car driver,” LaJoie told NASCAR Radio. I feel plenty healthy, my immune system is capable of fighting off anything,” LaJoie told NASCAR Radio. Driver pivots career to become Michigan’s next NASCAR mogulYou won’t need to carry much cash at the NASCAR race at MIS.

Bubba Wallace has struggled to find success driving for Michael Jordan.

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

Christopher Bell celebrates at the finish line after winning the NASCAR Cup Series road course auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NASCAR’s postseason landscape has been altered after just two Cup Series races. “The number of unique winners is really going to change how many cars get in on points, right? Although Bell drives for powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, he was a rookie for that top team and in his second full season in the Cup series. The Cup Series opened on a superspeedway, then raced on a road course, and now heads to an intermediate track. Whether that’s different markets, different racetracks, it has to be different from year to year.

Those moves were a wake-up call — the economics that has changed the landscape of NASCAR’s two lower series have finally reached the Cup level. When the music stops, the Cup Series lineup will look radically different. It’s challenging.”SIGNED FOR 2021Alex Bowman at Hendrick Motorsports and Ryan Blaney at Penske inked extensions before the pandemic. The top prize is a seat at Hendrick Motorsports, which will replace the seven-time champion, Jimmie Johnson. Briscoe, who has seven Xfinity Series wins for SHR this season, wants a promotion; it is not clear what he will do if Bowyer is extended for another year.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Daniel Suarez, who landed a ride two weeks before the season-opening Daytona 500, will not return to Gaunt Brothers Racing next season and is seeking a new team for the third time in three years. Gaunt Brothers said Tuesday it was a mutual decision for the Mexican driver to leave the team. “I’m extremely thankful to my entire Toyota family for everything they have done for me, especially this year," Suarez said. “I will always be grateful to them for having my back.”Suarez has struggled with Gaunt Brothers, which is in its first full season of Cup competition. His long relationship with Toyota helped Suarez get the job with Gaunt Brothers, a team that began in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series in 2010 and the Canada-based NASCAR Pinty’s Series.

NASCAR drivers don't plan to boycott Saturday night's, Aug. 29 race at Daytona International Speedway to raise awareness of social and racial injustices. NASCAR drivers do not plan to skip Saturday night's race at Daytona International Speedway to raise awareness of social and racial injustices. I can assure all of you that myself and many of my competitors are continuing to work hard with @NASCAR to continue the efforts and the fight for racial equality. "I certainly think we need to continue our discussions about social and racial injustice, and we continue to educate ourselves. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson on Friday agreed with Wallace that athletes have a right to share our opinion on social matters.

It feels like forever, so welcome back, guys, said Keselowski, who is in a contract year at Team Penske. It feels so weird to be racing without fans, but were glad youre here. The reigning Cup champion is a 12-time winner in New Hampshire, including three in the top series. Keselowski took the second stage, passing Hamlin on the final lap of a two-lap sprint following a series of cautions late in the stage. But Jeremy Bullins has focused on helping Keselowski win races and earn a contract extension.

(AP Photo/Butch Dill)NASCAR's return to racing shifts to Talladega Superspeedway, with new rules in place after Ryan Newman's frightful crash in the season-opening Daytona 500. The Alabama track will admit up to 5,000 fans Sunday with at least one NASCAR team facing a coronavirus scare while NASCAR will be on the lookout for the newly banned Confederate flag. The 5,000 fans in the grandstands will arrive just 48 hours after Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed two unidentified employees tested posted for COVID-19. Those who test positive may not be among the 16 permitted to go to the track under virus rules. He continued to recover during the coronavirus shutdown and returned to racing when NASCAR got back to the track in May.

FILE - In this May 11, 2012, file photo, drivers take the green flag for the start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series auto race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. NASCAR will re-fire the engines moments after mask-clad drivers climb into their cars at Darlington Raceway. (Tyler Barrick/Pool Photo via AP, File)DARLINGTON, S.C. NASCAR will not be as you remember it when racing returns at old egg-shaped Darlington Raceway. He tested at Darlington shortly before the season was suspended and determined then he was fit to race again. Busch and Hill are adding Xfinity Series races at Darlington and Charlotte, and a Truck Series race at Charlotte to their calendar. His only victory so far this season was the Truck Series race at home track Las Vegas.

In the first 48 hours, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Erik Jones, a pair of drivers with something to prove, grabbed the first two wins of the year. 48 next season, while Kyle Larson began his season as the top free agent in NASCAR without a single stress about his future. It came on his second day driving a Chevrolet Camaro and with his small new team at JTG-Daugherty Racing. to go to a whole brand new place, I think Id have been lost not having them there.Jones is in a similar situation as the least successful driver in the Joe Gibbs Racing juggernaut. Keselowski watched from the garage for at least four hours as his team tried to repair the No.

Brad Keselowski worked overtime to get his Ford ready for Daytona 500 qualifying. His team put the final touches on his car early Sunday morning, and Keselowski posted the 23rd-fastest speed in pole qualifying. BUBBA REMEMBERSBubba Wallace is honoring Kobe Bryant and the other helicopter crash victims as well as former Richard Petty Motorsports driver John Andretti on his Daytona 500 Chevrolet. Johnson, a noted fitness freak, ran the Daytona Beach Half Marathon hours before he qualified for the Daytona 500. Ill also have a little wine when Im over there.Johnson heads into his 19th and final full season in stock car racing but has refused to rule out racing another Daytona 500.