All posts by Toby Christie

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor The last few years have been rough for race fans who have traveled to Texas Motor Speedway as rain has halted on track activity numerous times. Over the last several years the pavement at the 1.5-mile speedway has become weather beaten and it had began eroding. The track also began trapping rain water below the surface which made drying the track during a rain delay nearly impossible. It was announced during a teleconference on Friday by track president Eddie Gossage that starting this Monday, theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor To say the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season had a plethora of storylines would be a complete understatement. The past year was jam packed full of disappointment, excitement and utter unpredictability. Here are five of the top moments from the season: 5. Dale Jr.’s concussion Dale Earnhardt Jr. is always a big story, whether he is winning races and contending for championships or as was the case this year suffering injuries. Earnhardt had a hard accident at Michigan which jarred his head. He racedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor LAS VEGAS — For a person belonging to one of the most powerful families in sports, it would have been easy to accept the status quo and turn a blind eye to those in need. However, Betty Jane France just couldn’t sit by and watch people suffer. France spent her entire life trying to make the world a better place for children. That dedication to making the world, and the sport of auto racing, a better place to be led to France being posthumously named the 2016Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor LAS VEGAS — The news the NASCAR world had been anticipating for weeks finally came to fruition on Thursday, as Monster Energy was announced as the new entitlement sponsor for NASCAR’s Premier Series starting with the 2017 season. Terms of the deal were not discussed by Brian France in a last minute press conference, but the Chairman of the sport did say that the agreement is a multi-year deal. France was pleased in aligning the sport with a popular brand like Monster Energy. “Monster EnergyRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — “I’ve never seen anybody better, that’s for sure.” Those were the words of Jeff Gordon after a stirring finish in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Jimmie Johnson led only the final three laps to secure his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, which ties him in the record books with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. Gordon, who has competed with Johnson since the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet SS was a rookie in 2002, also went head-to-head with Earnhardt for years.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Earlier this week, news came out that Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing had purchased a team charter from Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2017 season and beyond. Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the good news just kept rolling in for the race team. For most of the Ford EcoBoost 400, the team had two drivers inside the top-20. Ty Dillon led the way with a car that was hanging inside the top-15, while Michael McDowell looked to have about an 18th-place car. TheRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson is looking to make history by capturing a seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That championship bid took a hit just before the start of the Ford EcoBoost 400. Johnson’s car was sent back to the technical inspection area after NASCAR did not like something that they saw on the A-post of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS. After making changes to the car, NASCAR allowed the No. 48 team to take the car back toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — NASCAR’s CEO, Brian France took the stage Sunday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway to address the state of the sport. Over the near 18 minute conference, France appeared miffed and disheveled at times when pressed by the media, but in the end he let his stance be known on a variety of topics, and there were several highlights. Things began rolling with the question of how the search for a new entitlement sponsor for the NASCAR Cup Series is going, Sprint is ofRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — “At the end of the day when you come to Homestead and you’re going for a championship in the Chase format, you put yourself in position and that’s all you can do.” – Justin Allgaier After qualifying sixth for Saturday night’s Ford EcoBoost 300, many expected Justin Allgaier to be the weak link in the Championship 4. Although he was the lowest Chase contender in the running order after qualifying, Allgaier rose to the occasion when the green flag was displayed. TheRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — An entire season’s work rests on one 400-mile race for the four drivers and teams left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. NASCAR’s new Chase format — unveiled in 2014 — essentially makes the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway a dog-eat-dog winner-take-all race for the championship. Talk about pressure. For Jimmie Johnson, there is added pressure. If the California-native can rise above his competition in Sunday’s race, he will be tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with most Sprint Cup SeriesRead More