NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For the duration of the 2016 season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, two organizations, Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports, have stood out above the rest and with Saturday night’s penultimate race of the season at Phoenix complete, both of those teams will go head to head in next weekend’s championship finale at Homestead. The two organizations have combined for 22 wins in the first 32 races of the season, with Joe Gibbs Racing taking 17 of those wins and JR Motorsports taking the otherRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Entering the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series Chase, not many gave underdog Blake Koch and his first-year Kaulig Racing team much of a chance to make any noise in the playoffs, but the team made a strong run to Phoenix and came up just short of being able to make it into the Championship Four at Homestead. With three top-10 finishes in the first 26 races of the season, Koch earned his way into the Xfinity Series Chase, but many had the driver of the No.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – It was just another routine Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway for Kyle Busch. But nothing else in the Ticket Galaxy 200 was at all ordinary. All the drama unfolded behind Busch, as eight drivers scrambled for four positions in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase’s Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch led 190 of 200 laps on the way to his 10th NASCAR XFINITY Series victory of the season, his 10th at the one-mile track and the 86th of his career,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Entering Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix, Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace, Jr. were in a must-win situation to be able to advance into the championship finale at Homestead, but for both drivers, they would meet an early end after crashing out of the race with more than 50 laps to go in consecutive cautions. Gaughan and Wallace entered the night with points deficits of 20 and 23 points, respectively, so the only way that they would be able to make their wayRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – William Byron’s bitter disappointment proved a boon for two of his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. When the engine in Byron’s No. 9 Toyota expired on Lap 141 of 150 – ending the championship run for the series’ most prolific winner this year – Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez took over the race lead and went on to score the first NCWTS victory of hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Saving his best effort for the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Phoenix International Raceway, substitute driver Alex Bowman won the pole for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC), the race that will determine the Championship 4 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Filling in behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowman covered the one-mile distance in 25.619 seconds (140.521 mph) to win the first CoorsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Though he’s last in the Chase standings, 34 points below the current cut line with one race left in the Round of 8, Kurt Busch already has had plenty of reason to celebrate this month. After all, his beloved Chicago Cubs rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series and break a 108-year championship drought. Likewise, Busch will have to rally from two lackluster races in the Chase’s Round of 8. Barring an extraordinary set of circumstances, he’ll haveRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Six drivers vying for two spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway just might be a recipe for bad blood – particularly since three of the six drive for the same organization. “There’s an opportunity for two or three of us to be disappointed – or one of us,” says Denny Hamlin, who is battling his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, along with Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and KurtRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Brian Scott has been competing in the top three NASCAR series for nearly a decade, but on Thursday morning, Scott and Richard Petty Motorsports announced that he would be retiring from NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the 2016 season to focus on his family and other opportunities outside of the sport. “This was a difficult decision, but one that I made myself for my family. Racing and specifically NASCAR has been and will always be in my heart, butRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Heading into this weekend’s trip to the Arizona desert for the running of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, a visit to the past is in order for this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”. This week, we’ll take a look back at the 1996 Dura Lube 500, which saw quite a few interesting storylines coming into the event and most certainly leaving it. Back in 1996, Phoenix hosted just one race on the Cup Series schedule, the penultimate raceRead More