Charlotte Motor Speedway Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Defending Sprint Cup Series Champion, Kyle Busch, made his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series appearance in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte. Busch had won his five previous starts at Charlotte. After not being happy with his truck in the only practice session on Thursday, Busch quickly worked his way up to the top five. After the competition caution, Busch took the lead from rookie Rico Abreu. Busch held onto the lead until Daniel Hemric began to battle himRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – Charlotte hometown drivers William Byron, and Daniel Hemric were both looking for some hometown magic at their home track. Byron started on the pole after posting the fastest time in practice and qualifying being washed out by rain. Meanwhile Hemric started the race in eighth. Byron got off to an early start, leading the first 24 laps before pitting under the competition caution. After the first round of pit stops, both Byron and Hemric restarted in the top five. Byron slid back onRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Rico Abreu struggled early in the only practice the Truck Series would have on Thursday. Abreu finished the day 10th fastest, where he would start after qualifying was rained out. Abreu hung around in the top 10 during the first green flag run. Under the competition caution, Abreu and his crew took two tires to take the lead. Although Abreu would only lead one lap, he was able to hold off several trucks shortly after theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – With Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet bouncing off the outside wall, and Kyle Larson’s Chevy bouncing off Elliott’s car coming to the finish line, Larson won a wild drag race to claim the last of three available spots in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FS1). At the end of the final 10-lap dash in the Sprint Showdown, Larson pinched Elliott into the outside wall entering the dogleg at the 1.5-mile track and banged intoRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Wow, that’s all you can say about the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the last chance qualifying race for the Sprint All-Star Race. In the three segments, which totaled 50 laps of racing action, we saw two breath-taking photo finishes. Chase Elliott was on the wrong end of each one, as he lost out to Trevor Bayne in segment one by five-one-thousandths of a second. Elliott then was mired back in the pack in round two, but came charging back through the field inRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor There is a brand-spankin’ new format for this weekend’s Sprint All-Star race, and one of the big changes is how many drivers will advance from the preliminary Showdown. The race before the big race will consist of three 20-lap segments, the leader at the end of each segment will advance to the All-Star race. There will also be two more drivers who will make it into the big show by way of the fan vote. Conventional wisdom would tell you that drivers like Chase Elliott, KyleRead More

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 Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne took the win in a photo finish with Erik Jones finishing in second. Cup Series drivers have been victorious in five out of the last six Truck Series races at Charlotte. Kyle Busch won four of those five. The most recent Truck Series regular to win at Charlotte was Justin Lofton in 2012. Busch will attempt to add to his six wins in the TruckRead More