COREY LAJOIE

Sure, it’s been a wild NASCAR Cup season, with seemingly everyone in the field capable of taking the checkered flag.

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.

With the home crowd cheering his every move, Chase Elliott wanted this win so badly. No way Elliott was letting him by. The Georgia-born driver powered past the upset-minded LaJoie with just under two laps to go and crossed the finish line under yellow after a big block sent LaJoie smashing into the wall Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, file photo, Ryan Newman (6) goes airborne after crashing into Corey LaJoie (32) during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Newman, who suffered a head injury in the season opening Daytona 500, will race Sunday, May 17 when NASCAR resumes its season at Darlington Raceway. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Ryan Newman says he has no memories of his harrowing accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500. The first thing Newman can recall is walking out of a Florida hospital holding hands with his two young daughters. I’m happy I’m here.”Newman will return to racing Sunday at Darlington Speedway in South Carolina exactly three months after he crashed Feb. 17 attempting to win his second Daytona 500. He was healing fast enough three weeks after the accident that Roush-Fenway Racing took Newman to NASCAR's oldest superspeedway to test.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A paramedic was treating Ryan Newman inside his car 35 seconds after the ruined and flaming vehicle came to rest after a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500. This is what we do, and you’ve got the 40 drivers in the garage area who expect us to do this every day.”NASCAR said the first fire responder arrived 19 seconds after Newman's car stopped. A trauma doctor was at the car 33 seconds later and a paramedic entered 2 seconds after that. The 42-year-old driver was removed from the car 15 minutes, 40 seconds after it halted. "During this entire time, doctors and paramedics were attending to Ryan, except for during the car rollover,” O’Donnell said.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)LAS VEGAS, Nev. – NASCAR rolled west this week, shifting from the Daytona 500 to Las Vegas Motor Speedway without Ryan Newman. I can’t wait to have Rocketman Ryan Newman back at the track racing as hard as ever.”Ross Chastain will drive the No. The not knowing was difficult for a generation of drivers who have been fortunate to avoid the inherent danger of auto racing. Dillon recalled racing a week after his 2015 crash at Daytona. It’s part of what we do as race car drivers and I think that’s why people come watch us.

(AP Photo/David Graham)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Ryan Newman was released from a Florida hospital Wednesday, about 42 hours after his frightening crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Roush Fenway Racing released a photo of Newman leaving a Daytona Beach hospital holding the hands of his two young daughters. The team released a third photo of Newman and his daughters with the staff that treated him following his crash. Chastain has won three times in the Truck Series and twice in the Xfinity Series, including a win at Las Vegas in 2018. “No one could ever take the place of Ryan Newman on the track, and I can’t wait to have him back,” Chastain tweeted.

When Ryan Blaney pushed fellow Ford driver Ryan Newman in the final lap of the Daytona 500, it was something both men have done hundreds of times on superspeedways. Then Newman's car angled back into traffic, creating the most violent and frightening wreck at Daytona since the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. “We pushed Newman there to the lead and then we got a push from (Hamlin). Newman’s car again landed on its roof and skidded past the finish line to a stop, spewing sparks and fuel that caused a fire. A car running alone in the pack without a drafting partner is often shuffled back in the field.