Headline News Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – In recent years, Kevin Harvick has exercised his dominance at Phoenix International Raceway by crushing the competition. In Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, he maintained his mastery by a matter of inches, banging fenders with Carl Edwards in a side-by side overtime battle on the way to the finish line. After the drivers traded shots on the way to the stripe, Harvick pulled ahead to win the fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race ofRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After Friday’s bizarre qualifying session for the Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway left Dale Earnhardt Jr. starting in the 26th position, Jimmie Johnson in a back up car, and Kasey Kahne needing a new engine, all three drivers needed to rebound in Sunday’s Good Sam 500. Both Johnson and Kahne relinquished their starting positions and started in the rear per the NASCAR rulebook. When the green flag waved, both Johnson and Kahne quickly worked their way up through the field. Within 30 laps,Read More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Conor Daly once again proved why he belongs in the Verizon IndyCar Series despite finishing in 13th in today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The 24 year old from Noblesville, Indiana was put in position to win after a fantastic strategy call by his Dale Coyne Racing pit crew to have him pit on lap 13 along with teammate Luca Filippi. He picked up the lead after the yellow flew on lap 46 for Marco Andretti’s spin which forced the leaders to makeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer With one of the best rookie classes in recent memory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series occurring during the 2016 season, each week we’ll take a look at the five rookies battling for Rookie of the Year and track their progress throughout the season. In this week’s edition of the “Rookie Report,” the focus is on Phoenix International Raceway and Sunday’s Good Sam 500, a 312 lap battle around the one-mile oval in the Arizona desert that showcased another great run for the rookies. WhileRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor On a bright, sunny day at Phoenix International Raceway, brake heat altered the day for several drivers and teams. Two drivers — Ryan Newman and Paul Menard — who are looking at returning to the playoffs after making the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2015, took big hits to their 2016 post-season hopes Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Both drivers, who are teammates at Richard Childress Racing, slammed into the outside wall hard in separate accidents in the Good Sam 500. Newman, who entered the day 17th inRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Locally based Team Pelfrey enjoyed a banner weekend in the opening two races of the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. After young Mexican Patricio O’Ward claimed top honors yesterday in the first of two races that made up the Allied Building Products Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, today it was the turn of rookie teammate Aaron Telitz to taste the spoils of victory. O’Ward finished second, while Malaysian Weiron Tan charged up from fifth on the grid to ensure an impressive one-two-three sweep forRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the final half of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to take his second consecutive win in the season opening event for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Montoya mostly ran in arrears to his Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud for the opening 46 laps of the race as the Frenchman pulled out to a sizable lead over the course of the opening stint. Following the first round of green flag pitstops, Pagenaud continued to keep his teammate at bay for theRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Contributing Writer Team Penske driver, Will Power, took the pole for today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but immediately seemed out of sorts following the session. Complaining of nausea and a headache, speculation was that he has picked up a stomach bug or flu. Power had crashed in Friday’s opening practice and was evaluated by the IndyCar medical staff. At the time, he appeared to have no lingering effects, and was cleared to continue to practice and qualify. After qualifying, when Power began to display these symptomsRead More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – For the second day running, a driver named Felix won on the streets of St. Petersburg. This morning’s Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by Lucas School of Racing was all about Swedish rookie Felix Rosenqvist, who led from flag-to-flag to claim a dominant victory for Belardi Auto Racing. Yesterday’s polesitter Kyle Kaiser finished second for Juncos Racing, while Rosenqvist’s teammate, Zach Veach, completed the podium ahead of Saturday race winner Felix Serralles (Carlin). The result was particularly rewarding for the Belardi Auto RacingRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Oriol Servia will substitute for Team Penske’s Will Power for today’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Power has been ruled out of today’s race due to a stomach virus. The Aussie was feeling unwell immediately after a brilliant qualifying performance yesterday and skipped the post qualifying press conference as a result. Servia will start from the back of the field as a result, elevating teammate Simon Pagenaud to the top spot. “I feel terrible for Will and just hope he feelsRead More