Charlotte Motor Speedway Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – Persistent rain wiped out all track activity on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, setting up a full day of racing on Saturday at the 1.5-mile track. Both the Sprint Showdown, which will determine three qualifiers for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race have been rescheduled for Saturday. Practice for the all-star race will open Saturday activity at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Sprint Showdown at 11 a.m. and theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service This year’s unique NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race format, which requires the first nine, 10 or 11 drivers to start the final 13-lap segment on old tires (with the specific number determined by lot) with cars on new tires behind them, already has drivers thinking about hypothetical scenarios. Drivers in 12th place or worse entering the final segment, where only green-flag laps count, will be guaranteed fresh rubber, and that number is crucial to a lot of calculations. “We have to see how the tiresRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – After announcing a multiyear extension to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick used much of his media session on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway to set the record straight about rumors that had run amok since the announcement earlier this season that SHR would switch from Chevrolet to Ford in 2017. Harvick said there wasn’t a shred of truth to reports he had been contacted by Hendrick Motorsports to replace Kasey Kahne in the No.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer As the NASCAR community descends upon Charlotte for the traditional Charlotte race weeks, which include the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 that take place over the next two weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway, all of the focus turns to the rough and tumble non-points event set for this Saturday night. With that in mind, this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” takes a look back at one of the more memorable All-Star races in history, the 2000 running of “The Winston.” PriorRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Tony Stewart might be in the best shape of his life, and just in time. At 44, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has declared this to be his final Sprint Cup season as a driver, and he’s doing everything in his power to make it memorable. “I’m eating better, drinking better, working out, doing stuff I swore I would never do – and I’m doing it in my last year,” said Stewart, facing Thursday’s a media during the Charlotte MotorRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Richard Childress Racing drivers Ryan Newman and Paul Menard qualified for last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Austin Dillon didn’t make NASCAR’s playoff in his sophomore season at the sport’s highest level, but this year, he’s determined to change that scenario and put his No. 3 Chevrolet “where it deserves to be.” Dillon’s Chevy got a jump-start after the 15th race of the 2015 season, when veteran crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe took over the pit box. Four ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark concedes that, in January, every executive of every organization competing in the NASCAR Spring Cup Series will be singing the same tune. In other words, in January, before any cars actually hit the race track, everyone is excited and optimistic about the coming season. This year, however, to hear the drivers and principals of Roush Fenway tell it, the happy talk isn’t just lip service. To be sure, Newmark’s attitude stood in stark contrast toRead More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Brian Scott knows he’s in a pretty good place. In 2016, the 28-year-old Idaho native will compete in a loaded field for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors with the logo of Richard Petty Motorsports emblazoned on his chest. “It’s pretty cool,” said Scott, speaking Wednesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “Richard Petty: Just when you say his name you think of so many things. You think 200 wins.Read More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service Charlotte, N.C. – Joe Gibbs knows how difficult it is to repeat as champion. Although he won three NFL Super Bowls as coach of the Washington Redskins, none of those titles came in consecutive seasons. “In pro sports, I think the hardest thing is to stay up (on top) because once you have a great year everybody else is pointing or looking at you,” said Gibbs, speaking on “Toyota Tuesday”, the first stop on the 34th annual Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented byRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Let’s cut to the Chase. Starting this year, the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series will use elimination-based playoff formats to determine their respective champions, just as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has done for the past two seasons. According to NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, the new approach not only builds on the resounding success of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but it also provides a training ground for drivers who ultimately will compete at NASCAR’s highestRead More