All posts by Motorsports Tribune

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For Ryan Reed, there’s magic in the air at the Birthplace of Speed. Reed went to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in February 2015 and hadn’t won since—until Saturday night, when he held off Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne in overtime to claim victory in the Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener. With the race going four laps past its scheduled distance of 120 laps, and with the series running NASCAR’s new three-stage eventRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer A new entitlement sponsor for the Cup Series, competition enhancements and the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the track are just a few of the major story lines heading into the Daytona 500. Motorsports Tribune spoke with Chicagoland Speedway President Scott Paddock to discuss his thoughts heading into Sunday’s Great American Race. New Entitlement Sponsor In January, Monster Energy became just the third company to serve as the entitlement sponsor in NASCAR premier series history, replacing Sprint. “I think it’s exciting for the industryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In the space of 100 laps, Kaz Grala went from youngest NASCAR national series pole winner at Daytona International Speedway to youngest NASCAR national series race winner at Daytona. What happened between the first green flag and the checkers, however, could fill volumes. Miraculously, Grala slipped through a wild wreck on the backstretch on the final lap of Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 to win the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race contested in stages under NASCAR’s newRead More

Teams and drivers from all three levels of the acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires will converge next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway in South Florida for an official Spring Training test. The four-day outing will comprise over six hours of testing for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires competitors on the 1.5-mile oval on Monday, February 27, followed by two days of running on the 2.21-mile road course for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, thenRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Austin Theriault added a victory at Daytona International Speedway to his racing resume on Saturday , winning the ARCA Racing Series season-opener over Terry Jones. Theriault got a push in the draft from the No. 77 Ford of Dalton Sargeant with eight laps to go, making the high line work just enough to pass Jones at the iconic 2.5-mile superspeedway to take the win  in the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 Driven by General Tire. The caution flew for the third multi-car wreck ofRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Tom Hessert turned a lap at 186.943 mph to take the General Tire Pole Award for Saturday’s season-opening ARCA Racing Series event at Daytona International Speedway. Hessert, a 10-year veteran of the ARCA Series, dialed back his schedule for 2017 and will compete in only five of the 20 races on the schedule. The 30-year-old Cherry Hill, New Jersey native has six career victories, including a 2014 victory at Talladega, but would love to add a victory at Daytona to his resume. “Winning at aRead More

A new piece of racing history came to life today as reigning race winner Alexander Rossi and officials unveiled the colorful, coveted ticket for the 101st Indianapolis 500. Hulman & Company President and CEO Mark Miles and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles joined 100th Indianapolis 500 winner Rossi of Andretti Autosport during ceremonies at the Cummins Distribution Headquarters in downtown Indianapolis. The ceremony started a day of activities to mark 101 days from Race Day for this year’s edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday, May 28Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Christopher Bell, Tanner Thorson, and Raphaël Lessard will each compete in select races for Venturini Motorsports in the 2017 ARCA Racing Series season, the team announced on Monday. The trio of Toyota-backed drivers is the latest addition to a lineup already stacked with young talent. “Toyota Racing Development is proud of our relationship with Venturini Motorsports,” said Jack Irving, Director, Team & Support Services Toyota Racing Development. “Entering their 35th year of ARCA competition, Venturini has set a formidable driver roster across the board andRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 36 Years in Cup: 11 Career Wins: 7 Biggest Accomplishment: 4 wins in 2016 A stellar 2016 season saw Martin Truex Jr. tie a career best with eight top-five finishes and set career bests with four wins, five poles and 1,809 laps led. The four wins included two of the sport’s crown jewels, the Coca-ColaRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer FOX Sports Media Group and ARCA Racing Series officials announced the broadcast schedule for the 2017 season which once again includes 10 of the races on the 20-race schedule. FOX Sports coverage will kick-off with the season-opener at Daytona in February and conclude with the season finale at Kansas in October. The complete broadcast schedule for FOX Sports: Daytona International Speedway – February 18 Talladega Superspeedway – May 5 Toledo Speedway – May 21 Pocono Raceway – June 9 Michigan International Speedway – June 16Read More