2016 Tag

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It wasn’t that long ago that Jeb Burton was mentioned in the same conversation as drivers like Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and others as being considered one of the brightest rising stars in the sport. Burton, the son of former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton, exploded onto the NASCAR National Series scene with a tremendous 2013 season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Burton collected a victory at Texas Motor Speedway, to go along with an impressive seven pole positions en route to aRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor NASCAR has a new set of rules for their green-white-checkered finishes in 2016 and one race into the much-hyped ‘overtime’ rules, we’re already seeing a continuation of a recurring theme – anticlimactic finishes. The Sprint Unlimited was a fiercely contested race. All night long drivers were weaving in and out of traffic, spectacular crashes ensued and all along the way the suspense built toward what seemed to be an epic battle for the win between Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and a whole host of others. This trulyRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Sometimes crew chiefs don’t get their full due in the sport of NASCAR. That wasnt the case Friday at Daytona International Speedway as crew chiefs were at the forefront of how the grid for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited was decided. The exhibition event’s starting lineup was decided by a random draw from the crew chiefs of the teams eligible to compete. Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, nabbed the pole position for the race. Johnson has won at Daytona three times in his NASCAR SprintRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jeffrey Earnhardt is heading into his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. Earnhardt will share the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford Fusion with 2000 Sprint Cup champion, Bobby Labonte. Labonte will drive the car in all four restrictor plate events this season, including the season-opening Daytona 500. C&J Energy Services will sponsor the car for those four events. Earnhardt’s schedule is dependent on sponsorship. GO FAS Racing has already announced that Earnhardt is expected to race anywhere between 20 to 32Read More

Maximum Field Sizes / Corresponding New Points Systems NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Maximum 40-car field (36 Charter team cars, 4 Open team cars), race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR XFINITY Series – Maximum 40-car field, race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Maximum 32-truck field, race winner awarded 32 points, 32nd place awarded one point New points systems apply to driver, owner, and manufacturer championships. Existing 2015 Bonus points remain in place for 2016. QualifyingRead More

This week we talk Charter System for Team Owners - Plus we have news of the week, a visit from Helton's mustache, we laugh...a lot, preview the Sprint Unlimited, hear from Jeff Gordon before his booth duties, laugh...a lot. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby ChristieRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Word is spreading like wildfire that Brian Vickers has been the man tabbed to replace the injured Tony Stewart at the season-opening Daytona 500. Several reports citing sources close to the situation from ESPN, AP and Motorsport.com are saying that Vickers indeed is the man who will jump into the driver seat of the No. 14 Chevrolet SS. According to the reports, Vickers — who has suffered from blood clots for several years — will for now just be in the car for Daytona, butRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor He didn’t always have the best car on the track, and he hardly ever had the resources to run the full NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, but Lennie Pond had more heart than arguably anyone who ever strapped on a racing helmet. Wednesday we sadly found out that Pond died at the age of 75 after a fight with cancer. Pond worked his way up through the local dirt tracks and later asphalt tracks in the Virginia area in the 1960s and 1970s. John Dodson,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor We already knew that Kyle Busch had elected to skip all NASCAR XFINITY Series events at restrictor plate tracks in 2016, but Wednesday Joe Gibbs Racing announced a surprise driver who would step into the No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota Camry during the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway — Bobby Labonte. Labonte is the 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and his rise to fame in the sport came during his days running the No. 18 car, that Kyle Busch currently drives, for Joe GibbsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Just days away from qualifying for the 2016 Daytona 500, the entry list continues to grow. David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson, who appeared to be out of luck on having a car to drive in The Great American Race, have found rides just before the clock struck midnight on Speedweeks 2016. Sorenson will pilot the No. 40 for Hillman Racing, which sold assets to Premium Motorsports in the off season. Now the team appears ready to make a run at the Daytona 500 with a newRead More