NASCAR Category

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Five years, seven months, 18 days. That’s how long it has been since Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. last tasted victory in the NASCAR Cup Series, but in Sunday’s Daytona 500, he broke his winless streak in the most epic fashion, surviving double overtime to win the 65th running of the Great American Race. Always a threat on the superspeedways, Stenhouse has been in position late in the running in NASCAR’s biggest race a number of times only to fall by the wayside forRead More

In a straight-up fight, the RCR cars had beat RFK. Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – So close, yet so far once again for Justin Allgaier on a superspeedway. Allgaier, the elder statesman at JR Motorsports, has been in the running for a win at both Daytona and Talladega several times over the course of his career, only to see it fall from his grasp for one reason or another. This time around, it was partly due to teammates not sticking together and part bad timing for the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet to bring home theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After Sam Mayer spun on the roof of his Chevrolet on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway, trailing a shower of sparks, Austin Hill, Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek sat in their cars and waited. And after what must have seemed an eternity to the drivers, NASCAR reviewed video of the final lap of overtime and declared Hill the winner of his second straight season opener at the World Center of Racing in front of the largest crowd toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Brad Keselowski is no stranger to the top of the leaderboard on a superspeedway and that’s exactly where he found himself in Saturday’s final practice session for the 65th running of the Daytona 500. Piloting his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford around the 2.5-mile track in 47.071 seconds, 191.201 mph, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion staked his place at the top and would not be moved for the remainder of the 50-minute session. “We made some really good improvements,” Keselowski said.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — On the fifth try, rain finally got the better of Daytona International Speedway—and that was perfectly all right with reigning NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion Zane Smith. NASCAR called Friday night’s NextEra Energy 250 after 79 of a scheduled 100 laps, making Smith the winner when the fifth rain shower of the evening thwarted track-drying efforts.  In front of the largest crowd for a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Daytona since 2011, Smith won the season opener for theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Just like old times. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson may have taken a two-year detour into open wheel, but in 2023, he’s back behind the wheel of a stock car and back to his old self, topping the board in the first practice session of the Daytona 500 weekend on Friday evening. Johnson came into the week at Daytona International Speedway needing to qualify into Sunday’s 65th running of the Great American Race, which he did with ease on WednesdayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – “We’re winning the fucking 500.” There is certainly no lack of confidence in Kyle Busch and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team heading into Sunday’s 65th running of the Daytona 500. After a highly publicized move to RCR and Chevrolet over the offseason, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion could be in his best position yet to finally add a win in the Great American Race to his already impressive resume. RCR is no stranger to success on the superspeedways andRead More

By Matt Weaver, Special Contributor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Willy Auchmoody says The Money Team is going to subject themselves to liver damage on Thursday night after making the Daytona 500 in the most unlikely of circumstances.   Conventional wisdom says Auchmoody, the general manager, and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. should actually be pulling an all-nighter of a different kind and doing whatever it takes to get the ride height issues addressed on the No. 50 and for driver Conor Daly. Pace laps for the second qualifying race began withRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two wildly different paths, same result. After a combined 300 miles of racing in the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night, the 40-car field for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 is now complete, with defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith and Conor Daly punching their ticket for Sunday. Racing in the first Duel race, Smith was able to breathe a sigh of relief early on after finishing eighth in his race, ahead of seven-time CupRead More