NASCAR Category

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kurt Busch saw his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record-setting run of finishes on the lead lap to start a season end at 22 following a crash on lap 373 in Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing driver and 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion had taken the lead from Joey Logano when the back of the car stepped out and spun, ending Busch’s day with a 38th-place finish. The wreck caused a gaggle of drivers to beRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – For most of the final 200 laps of Sunday’s rain-interrupted Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was where he needed to be – out front and in control of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Behind Harvick, who took the checkered flag 1.933 seconds ahead of runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the race was often out of control, as the essence of traditional Bristol made an emphatic appearance at the .533-mile concrete short track. Harvick’s victoryRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor For even the most seasoned veteran, the treacherous high banks of the Bristol Motor Speedway can be a tough task, so the stellar 2016 rookie class had their work cut out for them in the late summer classic. The race which was postponed due to rain after 48 laps were completed on Saturday night, ran to completion on Sunday afternoon, but Sunday proved to be much tougher than Saturday night under the lights, as Chris Buescher claimed the best finish of the rookies with aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was postponed to Sunday afternoon because of heavy rains, Kyle Busch found himself in the race lead and picked right up where he left off when the race resumed, but unfortunately for Busch, he would not be able to collect his sixth Bristol win after his race ended prematurely. Busch was the dominant car of the race, leading 256 laps, but a mechanical failure sent Busch and his No. 18 car forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bristol Motor Speedway teased its race fans with a brief taste of side-by-side action on Saturday night, before persistent storms halted the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race after 48 laps and forced postponement of the finish until Sunday afternoon. The race will resume at 1 p.m. ET Sunday and will be broadcast on CNBC. Carl Edwards led the field to green on Saturday but surrendered the top spot to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on the opening lap, asRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Team owner Rick Hendrick made two things abundantly clear during a press conference at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon to discuss the signing of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series leader William Byron. First, Hendrick had no specific update as to the status of Dale Earnhardt Jr., other than to say that Earnhardt is progressing in his recovery from concussion-like symptoms and wants to return to the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as soon as possible. “Dale looks great,” Hendrick said.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick pulled off a major coup earlier this week with the signing of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie William Byron, who is at the top of the standings on the strength of five victories in a Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota this season. The 18-year-old Byron used to go trick-or-treating at Hendrick’s house. As it turned out, Byron did the same at the house of Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson, a six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service The outpouring of support for Bryan Clauson continued at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson honoring the memory of their close friend with special helmets and paint schemes. Clauson died at age 27 from injuries suffered during an Aug. 6 accident in the Belleville (Kansas) Midget Nationals. Like Stenhouse, Clauson got his start in NASCAR racing as a development driver for Roush Fenway Racing, but after 26 starts in the XFINITY series, withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After surgery to remove a slow-growing, non-malignant tumor from his brain, NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Matt Tifft has been cleared to return to the race track, a process he will begin with a late model stock test on Sunday at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Tifft hasn’t competed in a NASCAR race since May 21, when he drove for Red Horse Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. All told, Tifft ran three races for Red Horse and six XFINITY events for Joe GibbsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – A remarkable chain of circumstances gave Austin Dillon the chance to win Friday night’s Food City 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Dillon took full advantage, completing two harrowing overtime laps to edge surprise runner-up Justin Allgaier in a race that went eight laps beyond the scheduled distance at the ultra-fast .533-mile concrete short track. Dillon didn’t take the top spot until Lap 305 of 308, when Brad Keselowski’s No. 22 Ford ran out of fuel while leadingRead More