All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Ricky Benton Racing will make their season debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in March 24th’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway, with veteran Timothy Peters strapping in the No. 92 BTS Tire and Wheel Distributors/Carquest Auto Parts/Valvoline Ford F-150. It’ll mark Benton’s first Truck Series start this season after spending its early season efforts in the Daytona 500 with David Gilliland in February. In Benton’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut as an owner, Gilliland brought the No. 92 Ford FusionRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A.J. Foyt Racing entered the St. Petersburg street circuit Sunday with high expectations after a series of great test runs during the off-season. Once the green flag came out, their expectations took a backseat and became a race of recovery for both Brazilian drivers Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist, who finished 11th and 24th, respectively, in the INDYCAR Series season opener. The first problems from the Foyt camp unfolded on Lap 1 after Andretti Autosport driver Zach Veach punted 10th place starter Kanaan in TurnRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Rookie phenom William Byron hasn’t had the results fans, critics and the team would’ve hoped for after three races, but that all changed after scoring a career-best 12th in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway. More importantly than a top-15 effort, Byron led his first-ever laps in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. The collegiate driver put his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on top of the scoring pylon for 15 laps. Byron’s road to the lead started on Lap 190, when theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After an early exit at Las Vegas last week, Kurt Busch had a competitive car in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, crossing the line in 10th for his second top-10 finish of the season after leading six of 312 laps. Busch consistently worked his way through the field in his No. 41 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion after starting 23rd, reaching up to 16th on Lap 23. His crew made no changes during early pit stops and ended stage one in eighth. Busch continued toRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Defending Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Sébastien Bourdais restarted in third with two laps remaining. One corner later, Alexander Rossi tangled with race leader and INDYCAR series debutant driver Robert Wickens, propelling Bourdais’ No. 18 SealMaster Honda on top of the leaderboard and captured a feelgood second straight win at the Florida street circuit, leading 30 of 110 laps. The victory was Bourdais’ 37th career INDYCAR victory and perhaps his most triumphant after surviving a horrific Turn 2 qualifying crash during Pole DayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Quiet, but solid performances is what the two NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars from the Richard Childress Racing camp brought to the table in the weather-plagued DC Solar 200 at ISM Raceway Saturday, won by Brad Keselowski. After finishing fifth last November, Daniel Hemric continued his success at Phoenix with a sixth-place finish. Hemric’s No. 21 South Point Chevrolet kept its nose inside the top-10, reaching as high as second when he took the green-checkered flag to wrap-up stage two, only trailing Kyle Busch. Before theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer ISM Raceway isn’t just Alex Bowman’s home track, but the site where his racing career positively changed after capturing his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole at Phoenix in November 2016. Bowman returned to the site of his career-defining weekend on Friday and looks to improve from his career-best sixth-place finish in Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500. In his last Cup trip to the “Valley of the Sun,” Bowman was a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who sat out the final 18 races of theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer When NASCAR fans think of who’s the greatest crew chief of all-time, more often than not, you’ll hear the names of Hall of Famers Ray Evernham and Dale Inman. How about the 1980s? Tim Brewer, Jeff Hammond and Gary Nelson pop into fans heads, but one that’s been ignored lately is Kirk Shelmerdine. The NASCAR Hall of Fame announced its latest nominees for the Class of 2019 on Tuesday and Shelmerdine, alongside Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, John Holman and Ralph Moody are the newest nominees.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Hendrick Motorsports’ woes continued in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 Presented By Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Chase Elliott was collected in a two-car crash on Lap 183. Entering Turn 4, Kurt Busch’s No. 41 Haas Automation Ford stepped out and darted right into Elliott, resulting in both cars slamming into the wall and ending their afternoons with disappointing results. Elliott, who finished 34th, said he was an innocent victim and wasn’t able to avoid Busch. “I think he just got loose in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Known to be a demanding track for Xfinity Series rookies, Christopher Bell showcased to the field it doesn’t apply for all rookies after being the highest-finishing series regular in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing second and leading six of 200 laps. On the final restart, Bell had his eyes of becoming the 10th different winner in 10 races, but a blunder cost him an opportunity of one-upping race winner and rival Kyle Larson. “It would have been nice to getRead More