Carl Edwards Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A contender for a possible win, misfortune struck Matt Kenseth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following a restart on lap 224 of Sunday’s Kobalt 400, heavy winds and aggressive racing took shape as the field jockeyed for position. Kenseth was running on the inside of Martin Truex Jr.’s when the backend of his No. 20 began to spin around in Turn 1. As a result, rookie Chase Elliott collided with Kenseth. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch made contact as well, but the damage was too severeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – One of the most outspoken advocates for removing downforce from the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars, Carl Edwards expects the sanctioning body’s move in that direction with the 2016 rules package to have a profound effect in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FOX). The combination of low downforce and a bumpy, abrasive racing surface should be a recipe for exciting, strategic racing in the first open-motor event featuring the 2016 rules. “I thinkRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Kurt Busch fell just short of beating brother Kyle Busch on the track during Friday’s time trials at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch covered the 1.54-mile distance in 28.925 seconds 191.668 mph) in the money round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX), beating his older brother by .013 seconds. But the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection, and his time was disallowed. ThatRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After last Sunday’s barn burner of a finish in the Daytona 500, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series packs up and heads to Georgia for this weekend’s running of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As we head to Atlanta, we’ll take a statistical look at the track and which drivers should perform the best based on their past finishes in this edition of “Crunching the Numbers.” Track Facts Track Size: 1.54-mile quad-oval Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 24 degrees Banking/Turn 3 & 4:Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 58th annual Daytona 500 is in the books and with it a new champion crowned in Denny Hamlin. With ‘The Great American Race’ now over, it’s time to revisit some of the big takeaways from the Sprint Cup season opener. 1) Hendrick Motorsports fell flat Our NASCAR Editor, Toby Christie, pointed out that this was the first time since 2009 that a driver from Hendrick Motorsports has failed to grab a top 10 finish – see that story here. With that said, the performance, orRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Most of the time, when an athlete talks about a “team victory,” it’s nothing more than a sports cliché. But Denny Hamlin’s win in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway—by the closest margin in the history of the Great American Race—was a testament to the strength and solidarity of the Toyota teams of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing, a JGR affiliate. In a wild last lap at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Hamlin moved into the outside lane inRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor We are less than 20 days away from the official start of the 2016 NASCAR season. For the next ten months battles will be waged on short tracks, big tracks and tracks that have right handed turns mixed in. Around every turn a storyline will develop, and a new headline will be etched into everyone’s mind. But we’re still days away from the spawning of the 2016 season. Right now my job is to predict exactly what will happen in the 2016 season. Chances are I willRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Denny Hamlin stole the thunder from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ four Championship Round drivers, winning the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC). Outrunning Joey Logano and championship-eligible teammate Kyle Busch for the top starting spot, Hamlin toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 30.568 seconds (176.655 mph) in the third and final round of Friday’s knockout time trials. Logano (176.263 mph) will start beside Hamlin in the season finale, followed by Busch, the highest qualifier amongRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jimmie Johnson played spoiler last Sunday at Texas, stealing a win from Brad Keselowski in the closing laps. On Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway – though “spoiler” is not a role he relishes – the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion was at it again, winning the pole for Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC) with a track-record lap at 143.158 mph (25.147 seconds). Johnson, who was bounced from the Chase for the NASCARRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Shortly before today’s ongoing AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials confiscated the front splitters from the No. 11, No. 18 and No. 19 of Joe Gibb’s Racing machines. It is believed that the crews altered the splitters by using bondo to create aerodynamic ‘concaves’ in them to create a small but meaningful aerodynamic advantage. The confiscated pieces will be taken to NASCAR’S R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further examination. It will then be decided if the teamsRead More