Carl Edwards Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor In news that is not likely to have many fans throughout the NASCAR garage, Atlanta Motor Speedway announced on Tuesday that the 1.5 mile track will be resurfaced after the completion of its 2017 race weekend in March. The track was last repaved in 1997 when the facility underwent a reconfiguration from a true oval to the current quad-oval, making it the second oldest surface on the NASCAR circuit. A favorite among drivers and fans alike, the track’s aging surface had developed multiple racing groovesRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which has had various name changes and format changes over the years, having recently been known as the Sprint Unlimited, will have a new name and format for the 2017 running of the event that is reminiscent of the early years of the race. On Wednesday, Daytona announced that the race, which began its life in 1979 as the Busch Clash, will be known as “The Clash” for next season. The race held the Busch Clash monikerRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Kyle Busch came up short in defending his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing sixth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Busch finished third in the championship standings, five points behind race-winner and seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and two points behind second-place Joey Logano. “It’s very challenging,” Busch said of how tough it is to repeat as champion. “The biggest thing is you just don’t know where anybody is until the end. I mean, (Jimmie)Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Homestead, Fla. – Call him Seven-Time. Jimmie Johnson joined NASCAR’s most exclusive club on Sunday, winning the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, putting the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on par with icons Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. “You’re a good man, you’re a great champion, and now you’re a seven-time champion,” crew chief Chad Knaus radioed to Johnson, who grabbed the lead from Kyle Larson through Turns 1 and 2Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Showing speed throughout the day, Carl Edwards looked to be primed to capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday, but it was not to be for Edwards and the No. 19 team after a crash on a restart with 10 laps to go brought their championship hopes to a screeching halt. Falling short of the championship in 2008 and 2011, Edwards was one of the fastest cars throughout the race weekend and had the confidence to try and redeem himself in theRead More

*Editor’s Note: The Motorsports Tribune NASCAR staff got together for a round table discussion about the upcoming Ford EcoBoost 400 (Sprint Cup Series Championship Race) in Homestead. They weigh in on three questions about the penultimate race. QUESTION 1: Which non-Chase competitor could steal the show Sunday at Homestead? JOEY BARNES, (Editor-in-Chief): Chase Elliott. He has been fast all weekend and it would be a fitting end to see him finally take that next step in the final race of his Sprint Cup Series career. TOBY CHRISTIE, (NASCAR Editor): HeRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It all comes down to this. After 35 race weekends, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes down to one final race to determine the champion. Four drivers head into Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Ford Ecoboost 400 with an equal shot at the championship, while the other 36 drivers in the field are simply looking for a win to cap off the season. Since its reconfiguration in 2003, Homestead has provided some great racing on its progressive banking on one of the true ovalsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Jimmie Johnson’s rueful rhetorical question told the story of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “What’s a championship race without a little drama?” Johnson asked after earning the 14th starting position during a session fraught with difficulty for the No. 48 team. Kevin Harvick, who was eliminated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last Sunday at Phoenix, won the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 Championship 4 race (on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET), touring the 1.5-mile trackRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor Five years ago, Carl Edwards entered Homestead with a chance at his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship only to lose in a heartbreaking tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. After winning at Texas two weeks ago, Edwards will now have his shot at redemption as one of the four drivers in the mix for the championship. Entering the final three races of the 2011 season, Edwards had built an eight point lead over Stewart, only to have Stewart’s herculean effort of winning two of the lastRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When looking at the four drivers in the Championship 4 at Homestead, each of the drivers has just as good of a shot at claiming the title, but upon further inspection, Carl Edwards could have the upper hand in the season finale. That is if the statistics are to be believed. Not only is Edwards in the midst of his best season since joining Joe Gibbs Racing, he is also having his best season since falling just short of the title as a result ofRead More