Headline News Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service To say 2016 will be a year of enormous change in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing is to understate the issue. NASCAR is rolling out a new competition package in its foremost division, one that features lower downforce. The aim is to make the Sprint Cup cars more difficult to drive, which in turn will put more control in the hands of the drivers. You’ll see dramatic changes on the track. Chase Elliott, a 20-year-old rookie, succeeds icon Jeff Gordon behind the wheel ofRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Formula One’s four engine manufacturer’s: Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda, have finally agreed to a season cost cap for their customer teams after months of speculation, argument and strife. The soon to be announced deal comes on the heels of two days of meeting in Geneva for the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission. The plan proposed by the engine manufacturer’s calls for a cost cap of €12,000,000 per season for each of their customer teams. It is a significant reduction compared to current costs which haveRead More

Seven-Race Chase Formats to be Implemented in 2016 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 19, 2016) – Using the overwhelming success of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format introduced in 2014 as a guidepost, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France announced today the implementation of a playoff system in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. On the heels of a 2015 Chase that saw the highest season-finale viewership in nearly a decade, record-breaking page views on NASCAR.com and unparalleled volume on social media, the NASCARRead More

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 18, 2016) – Fresh off a 10-race schedule in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) with JR Motorsports (JRM), Cole Custer will embark on a full 23-race slate in JRM’s No. 00 Chevy Silverado in 2016. The soon-to-be-18-year-old California native has 19 career starts in parts of two seasons in the series, all with Haas Automation sponsorship. Last season, Custer showed flashes of brilliance from the start, qualifying second at Martinsville in his debut before finishing 16th. His third start of the season, at Gateway InternationalRead More

By Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Some label Terry Labonte the NASCAR premier series’ least flamboyant champion. Perhaps it just seemed that way, when measuring Labonte alongside such colorful contemporaries as NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip. His calm, quiet demeanor at least partially explains why Labonte became known as “The Iceman.” The Corpus Christi, Texas driver may not have personified flash, but Labonte got the job done. Labonte won his first of two championships in 1984 and figuratively fell off theRead More

By Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Curtis Turner lived life and stock car racing in the same manner – at full throttle. A bootlegger at age nine, the Virginia native was a self-proclaimed millionaire at 20 and made and lost several fortunes while becoming one of the greatest drivers – and most colorful characters – of NASCAR’s pioneer era. He won a lot but also wrecked just as often. His parties were legendary and lengthy, as were Turner’s on and off-track antics in rental carsRead More

By Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Wire Service In a different era, in which stock cars driven to and past their limits didn’t break with frequency, there’s no telling how many races or championships Bobby Isaac might have won. Isaac, the 1970 NASCAR premier series champion, won 37 of his 309 starts. But he was a DNF – did not finish – 129 times. His 49 poles rank 10th all-time, with 19 – a still-standing, single-season mark – coming in 1969. Only 38 drivers have won 19 or more poles inRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor With regulations regarding testing growing ever tighter, F1 will feature just two in season tests in 2016. The first will take place at Catalunya following the Spanish Grand Prix on May 17th and 18th. The second test will take place at Silverstone following the British Grand Prix and will be run on July 12th and 13th. As per the regulations, two of these four days must be dedicated to a young drivers test, meaning that the other two days will be of immense importance as theRead More

By Owen A. Kearns, NASCAR Wire Service There’s a possibility, albeit remote, that O. Bruton Smith could be entering the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a race car driver instead of a race promoter extraordinaire. Smith, at age 17, bought a race car and decided to be a professional driver. “One time, I actually beat (NASCAR Hall of Famers) Buck Baker and Joe Weatherly,” Smith said in a May 7, 2005 interview with Motorsport.com. “So I knew when I beat them I could be a contender, right?” Smith’s mother, however,Read More

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 7, 2016) – Team Pelfrey announced today that TJ Fischer will sign with Team Pelfrey for the 2016 season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Fischer, 21, arrives at Team Pelfrey after competing in Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS during the 2015 season where the Vacaville, C.A. native raced on world class circuits throughout Europe and managed a career-best 5th place finish at Monza and a 7th place finish at GP de Pau. Fischer claimed 8th place overall in the championship, the highest finishing rookie.Read More