NASCAR Category

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor After an explosive 2016 campaign, which saw Martin Truex Jr. collect four victories, lead 1,809 laps and cement himself as a formidable championship contender, the Mayetta, New Jersey native is being rewarded with more sponsorship backing. Auto-Owners Insurance, which adorned the hood of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing machine for three races in 2016, will double that commitment for the next two years according to a press release from the race team. “Teaming up with Furniture Row Racing has been an outstanding fit forRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Recently, Shigeaki Hattori moved his Hattori Racing Enterprises team to a new race shop. When the move was announced, Hattori stated that his No. 81 Toyota Tundra would compete full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. With the move from a shop next to Germain Racing Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team to the shop that once housed Rusty Wallace Racing nearing completion, Hattori named the driver of his Toyota Tundra as Ryan Truex. Truex piloted the No. 81 Toyota Tundra in 15 racesRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 39 Years in Cup: 15 Career Wins: 17 Biggest Accomplishment: 2008 Daytona 500 Champion 2016 was a surprisingly inconsistent season for one of NASCAR’s most consistent drivers, but the good news for Ryan Newman is that he’ll have a chance to return to form in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing (RCR)Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 35 Years in Cup: 11 Career Wins: One Biggest Accomplishment: First career Cup Series win (Watkins Glen – 2014) For A.J. Allmendinger, 2016 may not have provided a race win or a Chase berth, but the California native was still able to rebound from a down year in 2015 to make some noise in hisRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Earlier this week, Carl Edwards announced that he was stepping away from NASCAR just a little less than two months removed from being one of four drivers with a shot at the championship in Homestead, Florida. In his press conference, Edwards cited happiness with his achievements in his career, wanting to stay healthy, and spending more time with his family as reasons for his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing and a sport that consumes your life for 38 of the 52 weeks out of theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Another ripple effect of Carl Edwards leaving the sport, is where do his former sponsors go? Obviously Arris will be sticking around to sponsor Daniel Suarez’s Rookie of the Year campaign, but what about the other affiliated sponsors from the No. 19 team? Sports Clips — who had sponsored Edwards for the last couple of years, has announced via their website that they will be moving their primary sponsorship over to Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota Camry for two races, and they will adorn theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 23 Years in Cup: 1 Career Wins: 0 Biggest Accomplishment: Led 252 laps en route to winning Xfinity Race at Iowa in 2015 Ryan Blaney flashed signs of brilliance throughout his rookie campaign in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but overall his first year was wildly inconsistent. Blaney’s best finish on the season was fourth,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 25 Years in Cup: 7 (Five part-time with Wood Brothers and two full-time with Roush-Fenway) Career Wins: 1 Biggest Accomplishment: 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne came into the Cup Series with a bang, winning a race in just his second start. And it wasn’t just any race; Bayne took the No. 21 Wood BrothersRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer *Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season for 24 drivers. We will release one driver preview per day over a 24-day stretch. Age: 29 Years in Cup: 5 Career Wins: 0 Biggest Accomplishment: Two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion (2011, 2012) Entering the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, several drivers are looking to turn their luck around. One of those drivers is Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. In 2017 Stenhouse is entering his fifth full-time season at the top level in NASCAR. BothRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Ahead of the 59th running of the Daytona 500 in February, two more teams have thrown their hat into the ring to attempt to make the 40-car field in the Great American Race. Two of the regulars in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler, will try their luck next month at Daytona as they look to make another start in NASCAR’s Super Bowl. Should they make it in, Gaughan would be making his second Daytona 500 start and first since 2004, whileRead More