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Christopher Bell believes he could be headed toward a big year with Joe Gibbs Racing following what he hopes will be a breakthrough win. Bell clinched a playoff berth by winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in overtime on Sunday. Bell said he would be disappointed if he doesn’t have more wins before the playoffs. Bell said he had high hopes for his No. 20 Toyota, beginning with next week’s race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He just didn’t expect his team’s breakout win to come in Atlanta.

Christopher Bell edged Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson in overtime Sunday in another close NASCAR Cup Series finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Bell led only the final lap in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and had a slight edge on the outside when the caution light came on in overtime following a wreck by Josh Berry. The 30-year-old Oklahoma driver has 10 career Cup victories. Austin Cindric led in his Team Penske Ford before he and William Byron, the Daytona 500 winner last week, wrecked with three laps remaining, setting up the overtime. Kyle Busch finished seventh, ending his hopes of snapping a winless streak on the Cup Series. Busch won the Atlanta Truck Series race Saturday.

Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has become a director at Formula One’s Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, which acts as a union for the grid’s stars. The Williams driver will take the position vacated by Sebastian Vettel. “I am passionate about my sport and think we drivers have a responsibility to do all we can to work with the stakeholders to forward the sport in many aspects,” Sainz said in a post on the GPDA’s Instagram account.

A massive fine left Chase Briscoe facing a huge points deficit heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Even so, Briscoe insists he feels no new pressure. He says he already felt an urgency to win this week because those are the expectations at Joe Gibbs Racing, his new NASCAR home. Briscoe won the pole for last week’s Daytona 500 and then finished fourth before NASCAR announced on Wednesday its inspection found Briscoe used a modified spoiler in time trials. Joe Gibbs Racing was docked 100 driver/owner points and 10 playoff points and fined $100,000.

Parker Kligerman has lost his appeal after having his NASCAR Truck Series season-opening win at Daytona disqualified. NASCAR disqualified Kligerman’s No. 75 on Friday night when his truck was found to be too low in a postrace inspection. Corey Heim was declared the new winner. The appeal was denied by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. The adjustment to the standings gave actor Frankie Muniz his first career top-10 finish. Kligerman is not entered in Saturday's Atlanta Truck Series race. He retired from full-time racing after last season. He has a larger role as a television analyst this year.

Daytona 500 pole-winner Chase Briscoe was dealt a major penalty Wednesday when NASCAR said Joe Gibbs Racing had a modified spoiler on the No. 19 Toyota in time trials. Joe Gibbs Racing was docked 100 driver/owner points and 10 playoff points. The spoiler base is a single-source part that cannot be modified and was discovered in NASCAR’s inspection process. JGR was also fined $100,000 and crew chief James Small was suspended for four races. Briscoe now goes to Atlanta Motor Speedway with negative 67 points in the standings. He dropped from 10th in the standings to 39th.

Lewis Hamilton says he is “exactly where I’m supposed to be” after an emotional first day on track in Ferrari’s new car. Hamilton got behind the wheel of the new Ferrari SF-25 for the first time at the team’s Fiorano test track. Thousands of fans gathered outside the fences surrounding the track to see a glimpse of their new hero. The 40-year-old Hamilton shocked the motorsports world last year when he announced he was leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari. Hamilton had been at Mercedes for 11 years and won six of his seven titles with the Silver Arrows. He says "I really feel at home. I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. It feels natural. It feels right.”

As an 18-year-old rookie taking over seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s spot at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli is having an introduction to Formula 1 unlike any other. Fortunately, he’s had some advice from Hamilton. Antonelli says Hamilton recommended that he enjoy the experience and not worry about “external circumstances”. Antonelli prefers to be called “the next Mercedes driver” rather than the seven-time champion’s replacement. Hamilton nearly won the title in an historic rookie season for McLaren in 2007 that Antonelli hopes to use as a model.