NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With NASCAR invading New England for the second race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, another edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” is upon us. As we look back at races from New Hampshire’s past, this week’s focus is on the 2001 New Hampshire 300, a race that featured a great battle for the win between two Gordons, Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon, leaving one ecstatic with the win and the other fuming at what might have been. The raceRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer “This one is on us.” It’s rare to hear that level of candor from the sanctioning body of any sport, but those were the exact words to come from Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, during a Wednesday teleconference announcing a change to the sanctioning body’s penalty system for post-race laser inspection system (LIS) failures. The old rules — and I say “old” loosely, as they were just implemented last week — provided a gray area with P2 and P3 level penalties for teams thatRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Race-winner Martin Truex, Jr., and Jimmie Johnson won’t be stripped of points or fined after failing post-race LIS inspection at Chicagoland Speedway. Instead, in the interest of fairness, NASCAR has elected take the blame and make changes to post-race procedures moving forward. Both Truex and Johnson appeared due for penalties after being caught with minor infractions following Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, but the repercussions were stripped when NASCAR observed a clear issue with their penalty system relevant to Chase benefits. NASCAR confirmed Wednesday that both TruexRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – You could see it coming from a mile-and-a-half away. On new tires, Martin Truex Jr. rocketed around the outside lane after a restart in overtime at Chicagoland Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, the opening race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. With the victory—his first at the 1.5-mile track, his third of the season and the sixth of his career—Truex also rocketed into the Chase’s Round of 12. But Truex wasn’t satisfiedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor After Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, the cars of race-winner Martin Truex Jr. and 12th-place finisher Jimmie Johnson failed post-race LIS (laser inspection station). But according to NASCAR, the infraction will not result in the loss of Chase advancement for Truex. The penalty for both drivers should be of the P2 variety, which should result in a minimum of 10 points and a $15,000 fine. With Truex’s Chase advancement not in question, the penalty definitely will hurt Johnson much more. A 10-point deduction wouldRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Entering Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, Chicagoland Speedway was one of four tracks that Jimmie Johnson had yet to score a victory at. After Johnson put his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS on top of the speed charts in the first practice, it looked like Johnson was finally going to cross Chicagoland off of his list. With qualifying canceled due to weather, Johnson lined up eighth on the starting grid for the first Chase race of the season. At the drop of the greenRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Tony Stewart is in sole possession of the final transfer spot (12th in the standings) in the Chase Grid after the first race of the playoffs at Chicagoland, but after a disappointing race in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 Stewart was not in an optimistic mood about his championship hopes. After climbing from his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Chevrolet SS after a 16th place finish, Stewart didn’t mince words about his day. “It wasn’t much fun, but I was proud of Mike (Bugarewicz,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Entering the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the two rookies in the 16 driver playoffs were hoping for a solid finish to be able to propel themselves into the second round in two weeks time, while the others were hoping to play spoiler. On Sunday afternoon, both scenarios nearly came true for the rookie class. Chase Elliott, who was making his first start at Chicago and his first appearance in the Chase, showed that he was ready to be inRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Before the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 went green at Chicagoland Speedway, Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team were already facing adversity. NASCAR didn’t approve of adjustments made to the body work on the left side of Harvick’s car before Sunday’s race. As a result, the sanctioning body ruled that Harvick would start at the rear of the field, while the majority of the other Chase combatants started in the front after rain washed out qualifying earlier in the week. Harvick, who tweetedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Busch opened the door, and that was all the invitation Erik Jones needed. When Busch, the polesitter for Saturday’s The Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, spun with a tire down while leading on Lap 182 of 200, Jones took full advantage of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s misfortune. The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota restarted sixth on Lap 187 after Busch brought out the eighth caution of the afternoon and quickly closed the gap on ElliottRead More