Earlier this year, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the pole for the Daytona 500 with a qualifying speed of 194.582 mph. That’s fast. But that’s how fast today’s Cup Series cars go on superspeedways with tapered spacers restricting engines. On this day 50 years ago, Buddy Baker got to go really fast. On Tuesday, March 24, 1970, […]
Despite being in unknown territory with postponed races amid the COVID-19 outbreak, NASCAR is still pushing forward with the Next Gen race car, said president Steve Phelps. But, whether it’s the new car or finalizing the 2021 schedule, it is not easy for anyone who works in the industry Phelps admitted Tuesday. Racing has been […]
“From the first race I went to, we didn’t see big diversity, ” said Jennifer Siegel. “We knew right away we were in a unique position to make a difference.” In a sport known for speed, Max and Jennifer Siegel are the slow and steady hands of change. What they have accomplished in a decade […]
When NASCAR driver Ryan Newman’s car flipped during the Daytona 500, it was the HANS device developed by former Michigan State professor Robert Hubbard that helped save his life. HANS, or Head and Neck Support, was developed by Hubbard and his brother-in-law and former racecar driver Jim Downing. “Anytime that any type of research […]
For better and for worse, the closing laps of the 62nd Daytona 500 once again lived up to the hype. The image of Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Ford hurtling toward the checkered flag on its hood will forever live in NASCAR lore. So will the scene a few minutes later, when an ambulance flippedon its sirens and made a beeline for Halifax Health […]
Stars have retired or are poised to, leaving the sport struggling to get a foothold in the sports landscape. NASCAR readies for its first, and most important, event of the year, the Daytona 500 on Sunday, it sits at a crossroads. It has hundreds of thousands of passionate and fiercely loyal fans. But the days […]
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona 500 has been postponed by rain for the first time since 2012, dampening NASCAR’s season opener that started with a ballyhooed visit from President Donald Trump. The race was postponed after two lengthy delays totaling more than three hours. The race will resume at 4 p.m. ET Monday and […]
NASCAR’s seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson spent Tuesday at Circuit of The Americas doing a bit of window shopping. Set to retire at the end of a long and successful stock car career at the end of 2020, the Californian took a detour from pre-Daytona 500 activities to visit the Texas road course, continuing to […]
On Sunday evening (UK time) NASCAR’s 62nd Daytona 500 will take place at the great Florida tri-oval, with a fresh face on the front row. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. secured his first pole position at Daytona and a third in NASCAR’s premier division on Sunday, on his first appearance for the JTG Daugherty Chevrolet team following a […]
The NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway package that debuted at Talladega Superspeedway last year saw roaring success from fans and media members alike. We saw more passes than in previous NASCAR Cup Series superspeedway races, drafting being relied on, three-wide packs in the final laps of the race and exciting finishes. However, as we prepare to enter Speedweeks, […]
Chevrolet will switch to the Camaro ZL1 1LE in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, replacing the Camaro ZL1, which made its series debut in 2018. Camaro ZL1 1LE — based on the fastest, most track-capable production Camaro ever – will make its competition debut next February during Daytona Speedweeks, which opens the 2020 NASCAR […]
Austin Cindric and Seb Priaulx won the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season finale (GS class) at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. This dynamic duo, brought together by Multimatic Motorsports, drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang GT4 to victory lane with a stellar performance. “Congratulations to Austin, Seb, and all the Ford Performance teams,” said Doug Yates, […]
The year 2022 still sounds, upon first mention, like when Zenon is scheduled to graduate from college. But it’s actually no more than a few years from now, and it also happens to be the year that NASCAR could possibly maybe introduce some element of hybridization into its race cars. Yep, hybrid NASCAR. Welcome to the future, folks. […]
We knew that the mid-engine Corvette would spawn a racing variant, but we weren’t quite expecting to see it unveiled so soon. During the launch of the new Corvette Convertible at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday evening, Corvette factory racer Tommy Milner fired up his new racer and made a surprise debut on stage. This […]
Mike Stefanik, one of two drivers in NASCAR history to win nine national series or touring championships, died Sunday in a small single-seat plane crash. He was 61. The winningest driver in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, Stefanik’s career stretched nearly 30 years. He won the tour championship seven times, and in […]
On Sunday afternoon, veteran driver and former champion Kevin Harvick stormed to victory in NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway after a late battle with fan favorite Joey Logano. Late drama further back saw the final two playoff spots change hands in a crash-filled slugfest of a race, one of the sport’s […]
He’s too classy to make excuses about not qualifying for the NASCAR playoffs for the first time in 15 years. But if statistics don’t lie, then the Chevy Jimmie Johnson drives on weekends was at least partly to blame. When the green flag falls at Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 16 […]
Kyle Busch had an uncharacteristically tough night Saturday from the drop of the green flag. And yet, the eight-time Bristol winner still salvaged a fourth-place finish. The quick hits: Starting 31st; falling a lap down early; getting the lucky dog on Lap 214; staying out to take the lead on Lap 254; and managing to […]
Retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his wife Amy and baby daughter have survived a small plane crash in east Tennessee on Thursday afternoon, authorities said. Earnhardt Jr., 44, was hospitalized and eventually discharged following the crash at Elizabethton Municipal Airport, according to CBS affiliate WJHL-TV. The Cessna Citation business jet rolled off the end of […]
It was 20 years ago when Dale Earnhardt Sr. spun Terry Labonte to win a Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Earnhardt was chasing the trophy — the playoffs didn’t exist, no stages, no bonus points — and The Intimidator simply wanted the victory. Labonte had squeezed past Earnhardt to momentarily take the lead […]
In 1959, something happened that revolutionized NASCAR’s stock-car racing: the introduction of Daytona International Speedway. Daytona was unlike any race track before it because of these: banked turns. The turns had towering walls that sloped downwards to the center. Walls that NASCAR’s stock cars would drive onto. Daytona’s banks were a whopping 31 degrees, significantly […]
Maybe it’s the weather. Maybe it’s the spot on the schedule. Maybe it’s just the dog days of summer. But for whatever reason, tempers are starting to flare between drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. That angst could set up some feisty duels between drivers with long memories or scores […]
Kurt Busch has been called many things during his tumultuous 20 seasons at NASCAR’s top level. He is ornery, easily unhinged and has lost control of his temper enough times that it nearly derailed his career. But the most important descriptor for Busch is one often overlooked. He is a wheelman, one of the very […]
Tyler Ankrum took the lead when Brett Moffitt ran out of fuel with less than two laps to go and cruised to his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory Thursday night at Kentucky Speedway. The 18-year-old Ankrum finished 7.373 seconds ahead of Stewart Friesen on the 1.5-mile tri-oval to earn a spot in the […]
In a long history littered with upsets and unlikely winners, Justin Haley’s victory might be remembered as the biggest fluke yet in NASCAR.But it also might be remembered as the start of something big, as it was for a few other bolts from the blue in the Cup Series. In only his third Cup start […]
NASCAR’s financial situation is constantly changing, from the governing body searching for a new title sponsor to teams struggling to hold onto big-name partners. That also includes drivers’ fluctuating salaries, which are seldom talked about when drivers sign a new deal or extension. Additionally, NASCAR stopped releasing race winnings after the 2015 season, so it’s […]
Novato native Dave Smith set to race Saturday in raceway’s 50th anniversary A little over a month ago Dave Smith drove a Mustang up a public road on a mountain for the Jaguar Simola Hill Climb in Knysna, South Africa. It was the first time Smith, a precision driver, had done a race like this, […]
Chandler Smith has won numerous ARCA and Super Late Model races on his ascent toward NASCAR Arguably Toyota’s best pavement stock car prospect, Chandler Smith will make his Gander Outdoors NASCAR Truck Series debut on Saturday night at Iowa Speedway in the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The 16-year-old rose to prominence driving Super Late […]
Joey Logano’s victory at Michigan on Monday gave Team Penske its fifth Cup win of the season. That’s two fewer than Penske had all of last year, when Logano won the series title. In another year, Penske might be the clear choice as NASCAR’s dominant team, but that’s not the case at the moment. Joe […]
Matt Sullivan | Getty Images Kyle Busch’s victory Sunday at Pocono Raceway not only earned the former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion a series-best fourth win of 2019, but was also another milestone toward a certain NASCAR Hall of Fame distinction. The 34-year-old Busch hoisted his 55th career Monster Energy Cup Series trophy, tying […]
Although Pocono Raceway has long been regarded as one of the most challenging stops on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, young drivers have shown a propensity in mastering the challenge.Particularly in the last few seasons, the 2.5-mile, triangular-shaped Pocono Raceway has provided a high-speed introduction of first-time winners. From Denny Hamlin, who won […]
Two of Martin Truex Jr.’s three wins this season have come after a hard-fought battle with the driver who had him fuming at the end of the 2018 season. Truex has now bested Joey Logano at Richmond and Charlotte Motor Speedway. At Richmond, Truex broke through for the first time this season, and spoke afterward […]
As a sponsor that has invested eight figures annually for 14 seasons in NASCAR’s premier series. FedEx has spent well more than nine figures promoting its brand. But for all those millions spent, the amount of exposure has stretched above 10 figures annually. In the most recent NASCAR on NBC Podcast, which highlights the sponsor’s […]
At the end of a thrilling victory in Saturday night’s Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway, race winner Brad Keselowski’s thoughts sped to the truck owner who helped further his career. “I just want to dedicate this win to Mike Mittler,” Keselowski said of the man for whom he drove for two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series […]
Mission accomplished for Chevrolet. The manufacturer put added emphasis on its teams working together with the goal of getting one of its cars in victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway. So much so that Jim Campbell, Chevrolet’s U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports, had a meeting with Chevy drivers on Saturday. Chase Elliott won […]
Forget all that stuff you might have heard about about the demise of wild restrictor-plate racing. Fox has unveiled a bodacious 30-second promo for this weekend’s 500-mile race at Talladega that is accompanied by footage of a half-dozen “Big One” wrecks from the past. The voiceover goes like this: ANNOUNCER: Talladega might just be the […]
McLaren has signed an agreement to become a fully recognized manufacturer in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The multi-year contract will see the first McLaren 720S GT3, entered by customer team Compass Racing, debut next month in IMSA’s GT Daytona class at Mid-Ohio, where it will become the ninth brand to compete in the category. “The […]
Martin Truex Jr. captured the checkered flag in the 2019 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, marking his first short-track victory in 81 tries. The title is also Truex Jr.’s first win as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing, and it wasn’t an easy one. Truex Jr. led for 186 laps in total, more than any […]
Racing — It’s a family thing. Kyle Busch held off his brother Kurt in the final 10 laps to continue his hot start to the season with victory in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.The win is Busch’s third of the year as he becomes the first driver in 27 years to finish […]
NASCAR is considering a return to single-car qualifying at intermediate-length tracks as issues caused by its latest cars continue to dog the sessions. The high-downforce, lower-horsepower vehicles were meant to improve racing, but also place more importance on drafting, which has led to traffic jams near the end of the qualifying sessions as drivers try to avoid hitting […]