Monster Energy Cup Category

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It was difficult to tell who was more excited on Wednesday when the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour wheeled into the Ford Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina. Take your pick: There were the legendary Wood Brothers, returning to full-time racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Ford Racing, unveiling its new version of the No. 21 Fusion, and driver Ryan Blaney, preparing to continue his own family’s racing tradition by running a full rookie season in the NSCS. It’s bigRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark concedes that, in January, every executive of every organization competing in the NASCAR Spring Cup Series will be singing the same tune. In other words, in January, before any cars actually hit the race track, everyone is excited and optimistic about the coming season. This year, however, to hear the drivers and principals of Roush Fenway tell it, the happy talk isn’t just lip service. To be sure, Newmark’s attitude stood in stark contrast toRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Brian Scott knows he’s in a pretty good place. In 2016, the 28-year-old Idaho native will compete in a loaded field for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors with the logo of Richard Petty Motorsports emblazoned on his chest. “It’s pretty cool,” said Scott, speaking Wednesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “Richard Petty: Just when you say his name you think of so many things. You think 200 wins.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service From a teamwork standpoint, Jeff Gordon’s new day job won’t be that much different from his old one. “It’s such a team effort,” said Gordon, who is transitioning this year from the seat of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the FOX Sports broadcast booth. “(There are) so many comparisons to what I’ve done as a driver in the sport, as to what I’ve already seen in the broadcast booth, whether it was XFINITY races that I did last year, or working withRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coming off the finest season of his career, Martin Truex Jr. suddenly finds himself behind the wheel for a new manufacturer. After several years of thoughtful deliberation, Furniture Row Racing left Chevrolet and its affiliation with Richard Childress Racing in favor of Toyota and a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. During “Toyota Tuesday” at the 34th annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom, Furniture Row president and general manager Joe Garone explained the move. “If we were goingRead More

America’s most popular outdoor store to be primary co-sponsor on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota Camry in 2016 CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Bass Pro Shops, America’s most popular outdoor store, will be a primary co-sponsor on Martin Truex Jr.’s Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry during the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The announcement was made today (Tuesday) at NASCAR’s Media Tour in Charlotte. The partnership calls for nine primary Bass Pro Shops paint schemes on Truex’s No. 78 Toyota, beginning with two races during Daytona Speedweeks – the 150-mile qualifying race on Thursday Feb. 18Read More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service Charlotte, N.C. – Joe Gibbs knows how difficult it is to repeat as champion. Although he won three NFL Super Bowls as coach of the Washington Redskins, none of those titles came in consecutive seasons. “In pro sports, I think the hardest thing is to stay up (on top) because once you have a great year everybody else is pointing or looking at you,” said Gibbs, speaking on “Toyota Tuesday”, the first stop on the 34th annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented byRead More

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 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