All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Busch’s 14th attempt to capture the Harley J. Earl Trophy will have to wait another year after going from leading in the closing stages to finishing second in Sunday’s Daytona 500, leading 34 of 207 laps. On Lap 199, Hamlin ended Busch’s time out in front just as the field was wrecking behind him in Turn 3, collecting seven cars. The plan for Hamlin was to race and staying out, which Busch followed suit. Two restarts later, it was about to goRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  Shattered dreams and a wad of junked cars surrounded the garage area after an 21-car crash on Lap 191 brought out the first of two red flags during Sunday’s 61st Daytona 500. Heading into Turn 3, Matt DiBenedetto, who led a race-high 49 laps, was running in fourth when contact by Paul Menard caused a wicked ripple effect that went from a fierce and clean race, to an absolute barn burner. As cars tried to avoid the mess, some weren’t as fortunateRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Modern day superspeedway racing has gained the stigma of being a crap shoot style of competition and a trend fans have grown to be accustomed of watching, particularly the past two Daytona 500s. Whether it’s the addition of stage racing or drivers being impatient, everyone has an opinion regarding the matter, but one thing is certain. Sunday’s Daytona 500 is the final race of the old package, but the concern of becoming victims of being collected in the big one still loomsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Six years ago, Michael Annett’s career drastically changed at Daytona International Speedway when a broken sternum sidelined him 6-8 weeks, ending his bid of contending for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, where in the previous season, he finished fifth in points. Ever since that gloomy afternoon, Annett’s view of the sport didn’t change but his performances created a whirlwind of struggles in NASCAR. Scoring only two top-fives in 91 Xfinity Series starts, numbers that’s undesirable especially the equipment he runs for whichRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – “I felt like I was back in the ‘50’s running a convertible here on the beach. That was interesting,” said Brad Keselowski after failing to finish Saturday’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona International Speedway due to a series of escape hatch issues that denied him of being a race contender. Keselowski was one of only two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points scorers and showed early pace on his No. 12 Fitzgerald USA Ford Mustang. That wouldn’t last as his roofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When finances put a driver in a box where their career’s in jeopardy, race wins can bolster a season. That was the case for John Hunter Nemechek in 2016 when he scored back-to-back Truck Series victories when primary sponsor Fire Alarm Services jumped aboard. Nemechek has made the most out of the deal and have gone up the NASCAR ladder ever since and fast forward into 2019, he’s now a full-time driver at GMS Racing’s No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro in the XfinityRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was the race of a lifetime for Puyallup, Washington’s Angela Ruch, who dealt with an overheating truck and going down a cylinder throughout Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, to finish eighth in just her second NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series start, becoming the second ever woman to score a top-10 in the series. Perhaps more special about Ruch’s performance was the support from NEMCO Motorsports and Kaulig Racing’s Chris Rice, who gave her the opportunity to run theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Lap 54 was the moment an intense NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway turned into a nightmare for 11 drivers, including Jordan Anderson, who’s predicament is worse than most considering the circumstances of his own team. Coming off Turn 3, Anderson, who was running on the bottom, was drafting with Cory Roper and running inside the top-five until he began bottoming out and the rest of the draft caught up to him. As the field bunched up, Anderson was losingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Justin Haley returns to Daytona International Speedway with a chip on his shoulder and after topping the speed chart at 189.581 mph (47.473 seconds) during final practice before Saturday’s NASCAR Racing Experience 300, he’s eyeing for redemption. “Daytona has always been good to me. I finished second here in Trucks last year and I’ve been good on superspeedways my whole career,” Haley told Motorsports Tribune. “We had fast speed and we were up there in final practice and made some mock runsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Winning can provide the biggest opportunity for a driver, more so when a competitor is part-time. That’s been the case in the NASCAR Xfinity Series all of last season when drivers such as Ross Chastain and John Hunter Nemechek won for Chip Ganassi. For one driver, it turned into a full-time gig at Stewart-Haas Racing and that driver was Chase Briscoe. At age 24, Briscoe has dreams of someday running the Knoxville Nationals, but for now, it’s making the most of anRead More