All posts by Toby Christie

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Sometimes crew chiefs don’t get their full due in the sport of NASCAR. That wasnt the case Friday at Daytona International Speedway as crew chiefs were at the forefront of how the grid for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited was decided. The exhibition event’s starting lineup was decided by a random draw from the crew chiefs of the teams eligible to compete. Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, nabbed the pole position for the race. Johnson has won at Daytona three times in his NASCAR SprintRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jeffrey Earnhardt is heading into his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. Earnhardt will share the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford Fusion with 2000 Sprint Cup champion, Bobby Labonte. Labonte will drive the car in all four restrictor plate events this season, including the season-opening Daytona 500. C&J Energy Services will sponsor the car for those four events. Earnhardt’s schedule is dependent on sponsorship. GO FAS Racing has already announced that Earnhardt is expected to race anywhere between 20 to 32Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Word is spreading like wildfire that Brian Vickers has been the man tabbed to replace the injured Tony Stewart at the season-opening Daytona 500. Several reports citing sources close to the situation from ESPN, AP and Motorsport.com are saying that Vickers indeed is the man who will jump into the driver seat of the No. 14 Chevrolet SS. According to the reports, Vickers — who has suffered from blood clots for several years — will for now just be in the car for Daytona, butRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor He didn’t always have the best car on the track, and he hardly ever had the resources to run the full NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, but Lennie Pond had more heart than arguably anyone who ever strapped on a racing helmet. Wednesday we sadly found out that Pond died at the age of 75 after a fight with cancer. Pond worked his way up through the local dirt tracks and later asphalt tracks in the Virginia area in the 1960s and 1970s. John Dodson,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor We already knew that Kyle Busch had elected to skip all NASCAR XFINITY Series events at restrictor plate tracks in 2016, but Wednesday Joe Gibbs Racing announced a surprise driver who would step into the No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota Camry during the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway — Bobby Labonte. Labonte is the 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and his rise to fame in the sport came during his days running the No. 18 car, that Kyle Busch currently drives, for Joe GibbsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Just days away from qualifying for the 2016 Daytona 500, the entry list continues to grow. David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson, who appeared to be out of luck on having a car to drive in The Great American Race, have found rides just before the clock struck midnight on Speedweeks 2016. Sorenson will pilot the No. 40 for Hillman Racing, which sold assets to Premium Motorsports in the off season. Now the team appears ready to make a run at the Daytona 500 with a newRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Nobody should have been shocked by the big announcement that NASCAR made Tuesday, as we have heard rumblings of it coming true for months. For the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, NASCAR will officially implement a team charter system. What this basically means is that 36 teams, who have ran full-time schedules for the past few seasons will now be insured starting spots in every points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this season. Additionally, NASCAR will also trim the field size from 43 cars to 40.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor As previously reported, a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra will keep Tony Stewart out of the car for some time. Some are already saying its a horrible end to an illustrious career, but before we get carried away just remember this injury will not end Stewart’s 2016 season and it does not prevent him from possibly having the ultimate send-off in his final season. According to a report from Dave Moody, Stewart is responding well to surgery and his team expects a possible return around the timeRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Joe Gibbs Racing has announced that they’ve added 19-year-old Matt Tifft to drive their No. 18 NASCAR XFINITY Series car for 13 races in 2016. “I am honored to have the opportunity to work with Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2016 season. I feel after our run last year at Kentucky that this is a great fit for me with an outstanding and well-respected organization, and I look forward to a very exciting and successful year driving the No. 18 Toyota Camry,” Tifft said in aRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The sponsorship picture is becoming much more clear for JR Motorsports as we close in on the start of the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series season. We already know that the No. 1 and No. 7 teams, which are to be driven by Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier, have a full slate of sponsorship. Friday, the team announced that they have struck a deal with Cessna, which will fill six races of primary sponsorship on their third entry, the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro. “We are lookingRead More