The plans to retire at the end of this year had been in place so long that every race weekend of Kevin Harvick’s 23rd season felt fairly routine.

Another crash has Kyle Busch last in the playoff standings and in danger of elimination Sunday on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

To mark NASCAR’s 75th season, The Associated Press interviewed 12 key contributors to the industry on multiple topics.

Kevin Harvick has fond memories of Michigan International Speedway, where he won for the sixth time last summer.

Jimmie Johnson and former crew chief Chad Knaus, who combined to win a record-tying seven Cup Series championships, have been selected for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Richard Childress and Kyle Busch were hardly on good terms 12 years ago, when they got into a fight after a Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Frankie Muniz has long been known for his starring role on the Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle.”.

Kevin Harvick has had a big share of his best Cup moments at Phoenix Raceway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr_ won the Daytona 500 in double overtime and under caution Sunday night in the longest running of “The Great American Race.”.

Kevin Harvick tells The Associated Press that 2023 will be his final season racing in NASCAR.

Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR retirement and IndyCar experiment lasted all of two seasons.

Ross Chastain’s video game-inspired ride along the wall at Martinsville carried him across the finish line, into the NASCAR championship finale and around the world.

Noah Gragson gave JR Motorsports two drivers in the Xfinity Series championship finale with his win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR champion Kurt Busch says he won't be back for the rest of the season because of a concussion and also will not compete full-time in 2023.

Christopher Bell saved his title chances with an overtime win Sunday on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway in a stunning finish that knocked reigning NASCAR champion Kyle Larson from the playoffs.

Kyle Busch will move to Richard Childress Racing next season, ending a 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team could not come to terms with NASCAR’s only active multiple Cup champion.

Scott Dixon knows IndyCar’s tightest championship race in nearly 20 years would have probably been long decided if not for a rare gaffe by The Iceman in the Indianapolis 500.

It didn’t seem much could still go wrong this year for Kyle Busch until his engine blew with 22 laps remaining in NASCAR’s opening playoff race.

Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren will split at the end of the Formula One season after a buyout was negotiated with the Australian on the final year of his contract.

Kevin Harvick has surged into title contention with a two-race winning streak that has revived the 2014 NASCAR champion.

There was no masking Richard Childress’ anger when he learned that star driver Tyler Reddick was leaving his race team.

Kyle Busch is getting antsy about not having a contract next season.

Chase Elliott got by Corey LaJoie with just under two laps to go and crossed the finish line under yellow after a block sent LaJoie crashing into the wall.

NASCAR has penalized Noah Gragson for a deliberate and dangerous crash he caused in the Xfinity Series race at Road America.

Alex Bowman felt he underperformed last year when NASCAR brought the Cup Series back to the Nashville area for the first time in 37 years.

Denny Hamlin has warned Ross Chastain that there's still some retribution due after the eighth-generation watermelon farmer wrecked him in Sunday's race at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Joey Logano jockeyed for the lead with Kyle Busch in overtime, got around him for good just before the white flag flew and cruised to the victory Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Kyle Larson is hoping a return to victory lane at the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday might propel him to a second straight NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The All-Stars during qualifying Saturday night were the pit crew members for Kyle Busch.

Justin Allgaier put JR Motorsports in victory lane for the third consecutive week in the Xfinity Series by winning at Darlington Raceway.

Drivers Matt Kenseth and Hershel McGriff and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine have been selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Kyle Busch is uncertain about his future with both Joe Gibbs Racing and in NASCAR.

Ty Gibbs is in his first full season of Xfinity Series racing and has quickly built a reputation as NASCAR's newest villain.

Kyle Busch won at Bristol Motor Speedway over the weekend to tie Richard Petty for at least one victory in 18 consecutive seasons.

Kyle Busch slipped past the spinning cars of Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to steal his first Cup win of the season Sunday night on slick, wet, dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway.

Chase Briscoe raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory, executing two great restarts over the final 20 laps to pull away from Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the most popular race car drivers in history, has been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining his late father.

NASCAR veteran Aric Almirola will retire from competition at the end of the 2022 season to spend more time with his young family.

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus won a record-tying seven NASCAR championships over a successful 17-year partnership.

Alex Bowman spun Denny Hamlin from the lead with six laps remaining at Martinsville Speedway and then went on to win his fourth race of the season.

Kyle Larson drove to his ninth victory of the season and most meaningful to date in his new job with Hendrick Motorsports.

Daniel Ricciardo lived his childhood dream at the Circuit of the Americas when he turned a few laps and spun some donuts in the late Dale Earnhardt's 1984 No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

Kevin Harvick has never been knocked out of the playoffs in the second round since NASCAR introduced the format in 2014.

The Mets and Yankees held a Subway Series game on Sept. 11 for the first time on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, as stadium’s around the country paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 killed in the terrorist attacks.

NASCAR drivers got their first laps on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course in practice — and it opened to mixed reviews.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be the busiest track in motorsports this weekend.

IndyCar is ready for its debut race through Nashville's city streets.

IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson is hopeful of testing in August at Homestead-Miami Speedway as part of a path toward running in the Indianapolis 500 in 2022.

Pocono Raceway is set to hold the first CBD-titled NASCAR race.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Jack Ingram has died at the age of 84.

Alex Bowman won the the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway to led Hendrick Motorsports to a 1-2-3-4 finish.

Justin Allgaier held off JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry in overtime to win the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway.

Jimmie Johnson will make his Indianapolis 500 debut this season but in the television booth and not on the racetrack.

Brad Keselowski did it exactly right this time and finally got that last-lap victory, winning in overtime Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Scott Dixon opens the IndyCar season in search of the motorsports milestone mark of seven championships.

Racers crash during the last lap in the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Latest on the Daytona 500 (all times local):12:35 a.m.Brad Keselowski has no regrets about the way he handled the final lap of the Daytona 500. ___12:15 a.m.Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500 after Penske Racing teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski wrecked on the final lap. ___3:25 p.m.Derrike Cope was knocked out after only three laps, an ignominious end for the 62-year-old driver who won the 1990 Daytona 500. ___2 p.m.Bubba Wallace’s car failed inspection twice for the Daytona 500 and will have to start at the back of the field. AdWallace drives a new entry owned by NBA great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

“Whether there’s 100 people or just the four of us, we’re still going to have fun.”The diehard Browns fans brought the party to them. In the middle of a pandemic that has killed more than 480,000 people in the U.S., the carousing was more casual than crazy this week at Daytona as race day approached. NASCAR went down this road last season when Bristol had about 22,000 fans for its All-Star race last July. The mood is in stark contrast to last year when NASCAR fans were revved for then-President Donald Trump’s visit. The majority had never been to a NASCAR race.

Austin Dillon (3) takes the checkered flag to win the second NASCAR Daytona 500 duel qualifying auto race Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 40 drivers competing in the 2021 Daytona 500, in order of starting position:___No. This is his 20th Daytona 500; he was hired days after Earnhardt's death. Son of two-time Daytona 500 champion and Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott. Finished a career-best seventh in the 2017 Daytona 500, but has been 27th, 28th and 19th since. McLeodBORN: Nov. 17, 1983AdHOMETOWN: Wauchula, FloridaCREW CHIEF: Frank KerrSPONSOR: NASCAR HeatsTWITTER: @bjmcleod78NOTEWORTHY: Owner-driver racing in his third Daytona 500.

“I guess someone got into Dale because Dale got into me and then we went up,” Schrader said. We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt,” Helton said. The death of Earnhardt left NASCAR reeling in the wake of a 2000 season in which three of its young stars were killed in separate accidents. All three died of the same type of head injuries that apparently killed Earnhardt. “The only reason I won this race is Dale Earnhardt,” Waltrip said.

NASCAR will attempt some normalcy at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a live pre-race concert featuring country music star Luke Combs. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR will attempt some normalcy at the season-opening Daytona 500 with a live pre-race concert — the first big performance at a track during the pandemic — featuring country music star Luke Combs. Born in Charlotte but raised in Asheville, Combs made NASCAR races a weekly viewing staple alongside his grandfather. “If you would’ve told me back then that I’d be performing at the Daytona 500 one day, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Combs, a longtime fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Live music is a way for us to be able to disconnect from everything else, and just be there in the moment,” Combs said.

The most coveted seat in NASCAR went to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuffle to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The most coveted seat in NASCAR belongs to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuffle to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives, who won five championships with Johnson as his engineer, will move from the No. “Every season, Alex gets better. “He earned his way into the 88 car through hard work and dedication and doing the stuff nobody else wanted to do," Johnson said.

FILE - In this image provided by Jimmie Johnson Racing II, Inc., seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson poses with an IndyCar during testing with Chip Ganassi Racing on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday, July 28, 2020, in Indianapolis. Jimmie Johnson will transition from NASCAR to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing in a partnership that could pair two of the most dominant drivers of this generation on one team. (Jimmie Johnson Racing II, Inc. via AP, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. Jimmie Johnson will transition from NASCAR to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing in a partnership that could pair two of the most dominant drivers of this generation on one team. If funding is secured, Johnson would be teammates with five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. Both were instrumental in piquing Johnson's interest in IndyCar and Dixon assisted Johnson at the July test.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. NASCAR has decided it will not grant COVID-19 relief during the playoffs, meaning a positive coronavirus test will end a driver's championship bid. The playoffs begin Sunday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina without a safety net for the 16 participants during the pandemic. Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon both missed one race during the season following a positive COVID-19 test and earned zero points. NASCAR made no changes for the 10-race playoff series, so missing a race would would effectively end a driver's championship chances. Johnson was not suffering symptoms but was tested after his wife received a positive test; Dillon was experiencing mild symptoms.

In fact, team owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief Chris Gabehart didn't even mention the season-ending race at Homestead. He gave me a list of probably six guys in history that won X number of races. That's the number he hit Thursday night at Kansas Speedway, where he led four times for a race-high 57 laps. The win broke a tie with Kevin Harvick for the most this season and gave Hamlin at least five for the second straight year. 11 team and Hamlin, who was coming off his first winless season since his 2005 rookie year.

After allowing a small number of fans into races in Florida and Alabama, none will be allowed at this weekend's races at Pocono. The absence stings a bit more this season for a track that first held a Cup race in 1974. Pocono is the site of a Cup Series twin bill, with one race on Saturday, one on Sunday, and the second race comes with a twist. Igdalsky, who said he did not have to lay off or furlough any Pocono employees, never considered asking to move the race weekend in hopes of accommodating fans later. It will be a busy weekend: After an ARCA race Friday, the Truck Series and Cup race were set for Saturday and the Xfinity Series was scheduled Sunday ahead of the second Cup race.

Longtime fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected to be the marquee name on NASCAR's 2021 Hall of Fame class, to be announced Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)All Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed was a chance to prove he could win in stock cars. Now the longtime fan favorite and two-time Daytona 500 winner will join his famous, late father in NASCAR's Hall of Fame after being selected as one of three members of the 2021 class. Earnhardt Jr. received 76% of the votes in his first appearance on the ballot. Stefanik will be enshrined with Earnhardt in the smallest Hall of Fame class in NASCAR history.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. Chase Briscoe lost much of his team and got a win for them. Its just a testament to our team, Briscoe said. With 15 laps to go, it was basically down to a two-car race: Gragson was leading, about 2 1/2 seconds ahead of Briscoe. Gragson never had control of the race again, and Briscoe wound up in victory lane. That was a team win, for sure, Briscoe said.

Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were three-wide going into that last lap, and it was Burton the 19-year-old son of former Cup star Jeff Burton, who wound up in front in a wild finish. I love you.Cindric was second and Gragson third, two spots ahead of Earnhardt part of his cars JR Motorsports ownership. It was Earnhardts third Xfinity Series appearance since retiring as a full-time Cup Series driver in 2017. Hed also raced there five times in the Xfinity Series, placing second in 1999 for his best finish. The Xfinity cars are back on the track Sunday before the Cup Series race at Homestead.

Hell change into driver gear, hop into his race car about 10 minutes before the flag drops and, without the benefit of any practice, hope for the best. Im experiencing this for the first time, Earnhardt Jr. said on his podcast this week. Once that engine fires up, things should seem normal again for Earnhardt Jr., who will take to the Homestead track Saturday for the first time since his NASCAR Cup Series career ended. Hes in the field for one of the two Xfinity Series races at Homestead this weekend, his third start in an Xfinity car since retiring. But on Saturday, the only fans watching Earnhardt Jr. in the No.

The governing body vowed to to do a better job of addressing racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death. Our country must do better.A black NASCAR official took a knee along pit road, mimicking a gesture used by protesters in tribute to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The time is now to listen, to understand and to stand against racism and racial injustice, Phelps said. After Phelps spoke to the NASCAR drivers, they observed a 30-second moment of silence. ___Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963 and find his work at https://apnews.com___More AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/NASCAR and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Harvick came into the day having led 1,138 laps on the 1.54-mile Atlanta trioval, far more than any other driver in the 40-car field. Harvick now has three victories in Atlanta, following up his triumphs in 2001 and 2018. I love to win here.On a reverse victory lap, Harvick held three fingers outside his car, a tribute to the late Dale Earnhardt. A few weeks later, Harvick captured his first Cup victory in Atlanta. During the shutdown, NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was fired after casually uttering a racial slur while competing in a video racing game.

At the end of the day, theres a lot to talk about. When you sit down and listen, you realize theres a lot of injustices taking place across a broad spectrum. "But it's still an emotional and special moment to go back to tracks for what could be the final time." Johnson acknowledged that taking a stand against racism and police brutality could spark a backlash from some NASCAR fans. Im still trying to find that voice, but Im being pulled this way more than I have other times.

BRISTOL, Tenn. Noah Gragson squeezed past JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier with four laps remaining, a move that caused Allgaier to crash, and Gragson held on at Bristol Motor Speedway for his second win of the season. His victory Monday night was set up by a caution with 13 laps remaining that wiped away Allgaier's lead. The Chevrolet teammates lined up side-by-side for the restart with seven laps remaining but Allgaier cleared him on the restart. I really apologize to Justin and the (number) 7 team, thats not how I want to race, Gragson said. I was terrible here in trucks and Xfinity, Gragson said.