NASCAR Category

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In the most challenging year in a history that has spanned more than seven decades, NASCAR racing has emerged stronger in the face of a coronavirus pandemic that interrupted the 2020 season, according to NASCAR president Steve Phelps. “What I would say is that, on March 8th, we were a sport that was coming back, right?” Phelps said on Friday during a Zoom video conference with reporters. “Our ratings had stabilized last year. Our attendance was going in the correct direction. “If you thinkRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Championship finalist Sheldon Creed had already apologized to his race team as his No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet Silverado began to fall back in the closing laps of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway. And then a yellow flag came out – with three laps remaining. Creed gambled on a pit stop for fresh tires even as the race leaders – fellow championship contenders Brett Moffitt and Grant Enfinger stayed on track. CreedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first leg of the Quadruple Championship Weekend at Phoenix Raceway wrapped up on cloudy Friday night with the NASCAR Gander RV & Truck Series taking center stage. It was a no remorse, take no prisoner’s race as it went down to the very final lap of the campaign. GMS Racing won the war with Sheldon Creed hoisting his first Truck Series title following a late-race pit call to go for four tires which helped him to win the Lucas Oil 150. Brett Moffitt hadRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service No divided loyalty in Championship 4: It’s all about the team at Team Penske Team Penske owner Roger Penske has two drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race for the first time. Both drivers are former Cup champions. Brad Keselowski won his title in 2012 under the 10-race Chase format. Joey Logano won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to secure the 2018 championship. So how does a team owner allocate his loyalties between his two drivers as they head for Sunday’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano enters NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race brimming with confidence Chase Elliott may have the illusory “momentum” — thanks to his 11th-hour victory at Martinsville Speedway — but Joey Logano considers himself the favorite to win a second NASCAR Cup Series title in Sunday’s Season Finale 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Logano’s confidence is founded on facts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the winner at Phoenix in March,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Over the past four seasons, Grant Enfinger has piloted the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and from the very beginning, he’s had long time crew Jeff Hensley calling the shots. After five wins, including a victory last week at Martinsville Speedway, the duo is now going to the championship race at Phoenix Raceway with an opportunity to exit this Friday’s race hoisting the series title. Should they get the job done in Arizona, it willRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor And then there were four. Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville marked the end of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, which would see four drivers moving on to compete for the championship and the end of the line for the other four. Three of the four drivers eliminated when the checkered flag flew were in must win positions coming into the day, but a fierce battle for the final spot between Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin would become the focusRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott cruised to an impressive 6.577-second victory over Ryan Blaney Sunday in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for the most clutch victory of the 24-year old’s young career – earning a position in next week’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 season finale. Equally as dramatic was a failed last lap pass for position that has eliminated the regular season champion and nine-race winner Kevin Harvick from advancing to that final round. Harvick had to pass 2019 series champ Kyle Busch forRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR drama personified as Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway sure got people fired up in more ways than one. While Chase Elliott took the checkered flag and punched his ticket to the Championship 4, there was a lot of frustrated drivers because a shot at a championship were officially dashed. Four in particular had their dreams crushed like my Seattle Mariners do every year were Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., and Kevin Harvick. Yes indeed, the biggest shock of the season wasRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 will be decided by Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and expectations are high that positions in this championship foursome are still very much up for grabs. Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the only driver locked-in to a position in the Championship 4 with his victory at Kansas two weeks ago. Regular season champion Kevin Harvick leads the points standings by 15 points over Denny HamlinRead More