Championship Four Tag

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Busch has always been regarded as the driver with the most raw talent in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage. However, over the first few years of his career it was hard for Busch to harness that talent and build it into consistent championship-caliber seasons. As years began to click by, the questions began to arise. Would the Las Vegas-native ever be able to win a championship at NASCAR’s highest level? The now 31-year-old driver finally dropped the mic on the doubters lastRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — All is right in the world of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. The dynamic driver and crew chief duo are hitting on all cylinders heading into the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. At stake? A record-tying seventh championship for Johnson, but 11 years ago this weekend, the team of Johnson and Knaus was nearly split up. Hendrick discussed his thought process as the competitive Johnson and Knaus started butting heads back in 2005. “You know, every — I think it’s theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Elliott Sadler’s week started off bad before he even got to Homestead-Miami Speedway. Following last week’s Galaxy Ticket 200 at Pheonix, Sadler’s car was busted for a lug nut violation. Missing lug nuts in post race inspection meant that Sadler’s crew chief, Kevin Meendering would be suspended for this weekend’s Championship finale race in South Beach. In Meendering’s absence, Mike Bumgarner steps in to turn the wrenches on the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro. Once practice fired away for the NASCAR Xfinity SeriesRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – There’s no telling where a younger, less mature Kyle Busch might have been this week. For all his talent, he probably wouldn’t have been at Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day session in preparation for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBC) and his shot at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Team owner Joe Gibbs sees the difference in his driver, who has overcome extreme adversity to put himself in position to battle defending champion Kevin Harvick, four-time champRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Experience tells Kevin Harvick that there’s only one sure way to lock up his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Series title. That’s to win Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC). Experience is also why his team owner, Tony Stewart, thinks Harvick is the favorite to do just that. “I do (think he’s the favorite), mainly from the standpoint that he’d been through this scenario and through this week last year,” said Stewart at Thursday’s Championship 4Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – A serendipitous sequence of pit stops and a drizzle that turned into a downpour made a winner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday night’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the start of which was delayed from day to night by rain in the afternoon. But the race that was halted by the rain 93 laps short of its scheduled distance of 312 laps was hardly the satisfying conclusion Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch or JoeyRead More