NASCAR Category

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After starting on pole for the Daytona 500, rookie Chase Elliott saw his hopes of a good finish evaporate early. The 20-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia led the opening few laps, but began to quickly slide backwards. The heralded replacement for retired four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon lost control on the exit of Turn 4 on lap 18, damaging the nose as the No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet hit the infield grass. “I’m not sure, just got turned around there off of four,” said Elliott.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After sensational rookie campaigns in last season, second-year drivers Daniel Suarez and Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr. impressed in the Saturday’s season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The day began very differently for each of the respected drivers. Suarez, 24, started the Powershares QQQ 300 on the outside of the front row in his No. 19 Toyota and remained among the top 10 for the first half of the race. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Wallace, 22, started the race atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The finish of Saturday’s Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway left winner Chase Elliott out of gas on the cool-down lap and runner-up Joey Logano pounding his steering wheel in frustration. But it was the high-speed chess game seconds before the first and second-place cars crossed the finish line that made all the difference. Fearing he wouldn’t get help from Kasey Kahne, Elliott’s JR Motorsports teammate, Logano pushed Elliott clear of the pack on theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After placing both of their cars in the top-five in points in 2015, JR Motorsports headed into the 2016 season with a retooled driver lineup and after Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona, the team is showing the entire garage that they will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the season. Though the four cars that JR Motorsports had entered in Saturday’s Powershares QQQ 300 didn’t show the type of speed the team would have wanted in qualifying, starting 10th, 15th, 16th, andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In Saturday’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the Daytona 500 (on FOX at 1 p.m. ET), it was time for Greg Biffle to turn a few laps with his new race engine. Biffle and new crew chief Brian Pattie opted out of Friday’s two practice sessions, preferring to wait until Saturday for their final shakedown. “This is our first laps on our race engine and race gear and race driveshaft – all of our driveline components – soRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor In the scariest moment of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, Christopher Bell went for a wild and dangerous ride. As the field restarted the race in overtime, Bell had rebounded from early misfortune to have a shot at victory. When the field reached the white flag, Bell’s focus went from winning to just being healthy. A wild pack of trucks weaving in and out triggered a massive melee, which sent Bell tumbling. Bell’s truck flipped anywhere from eight to 10 times in aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the No. 4 Toyota of Christopher Bell barrel-rolling through Turn 1 behind him, Johnny Sauter nosed ahead in his No. 21 Chevrolet and had more than a car-length lead when NASCAR called the final caution of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway. With the victory, Sauter is all but guaranteed a spot in the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase, a seven-race playoff modeled after the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. But Sauter neededRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor A few years ago, Ryan Truex’s future seemed destined for greatness. Then the reality of stock car racing slapped the young driver’s hopes down, and heading into the 2016 season, Truex had no idea where — or if — he’d drive this season. Then came an unexpected call from Shigeaki Hattori, a former IndyCar driver turned Truck Series driver, turned car owner from Japan. Hattori had a place for Truex in his newly formed No. 81 Toyota Tundra with sponsorship from Goodyear. Truex said, sure and a few weeksRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor When the 20-minute caution clock was announced for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, NASCAR claimed made the rule change to create more strategy for crew chiefs in the series. Many fans and media alike feared that it would dull the series down with green-flag pit stops being eliminated. Friday night at Daytona International Speedway, the caution clock actually caused a crash on lap 41 when several drivers opted to pit just before the clock was to expire in an effort to gainRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It’s no secret that Dale Earnhardt Jr. likes his car for this weekend’s Daytona 500. Earnhardt raced this very car in all four restrictor plate events last season, and with it he recorded two wins, and an average finish of 1.8. Earnhardt’s great luck with the car that he has named ‘Amelia’ continued in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel qualifying race. “I was so nervous today about tearing the car up because I know how good it is versus what we have,” Earnhardt said. “What weRead More