chase elliott 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 Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Caution clocks, wave-arounds, lucky dog free passes, competition yellows and of course the dreaded debris cautions. These unnatural elements have been concocted over the last several years in order to ‘spice’ up the sport of NASCAR. Fans had begun to clamor that NASCAR was shifting more from a sports league into more of a sports entertainment company ala the WWE. But I mean you can’t blame NASCAR for coming up with all of these convoluted rules, I mean a race can’t be exciting if thereRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Atlanta Motor Speedway saw the dawning of a new competition package in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and after all was said and done it was Jimmie Johnson taking a late lead en route to winning and tying Dale Earnhardt with his 76th career victory. Without any more delay, here are some of my key takeaways from Sunday’s race. 1) Phenomenal Racing If you didn’t like what kind of racing was on display then there’s something wrong. The package complemented by lower downforce and greater tireRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After a disappointing start to the season at Daytona last Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports rolled into Atlanta for the first intermediate track race of the season and showed just how strong they could be with three of their four cars bringing home top-10 finishes. Jimmie Johnson led the way for the organization, taking the lead on the final round of green flag pit stops and holding off all comers to score his fifth win at Atlanta, as well as his 76th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win,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 Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After a solid Speedweeks, the 2016 Sprint Cup rookie class struggled to live up to expectations in this year’s Daytona 500. Chase Elliott replaced retired four-time series champion Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 at Hendrick Motorsports, and started off with a bang by winning the pole for ‘The Great American Race’. However, after leading the opening three laps, the second-generation driver and 2014 XFINITY Series champion quickly ran into trouble, wrecking off Turn 4 before ultimately finishing 37th. Chris Buescher, last season’s XFINITY Series champion,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Heading into the 2016 Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports seemed like they would over-power the field for the win. As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now heads out of Daytona, none of Hendrick’s four drivers are able to boast that they finished inside the top-10 of ‘The Great American Race’. This is the first time since the 2009 edition of this event that all of Hendrick Motorsports’ cars failed to finish inside the top-10. Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, and Saturday’s XFINITY Series race winner, Chase ElliottRead 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 Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After starting on pole for the Daytona 500, rookie Chase Elliott saw his hopes of a good finish evaporate early. The 20-year-old from Dawsonville, Georgia led the opening few laps, but began to quickly slide backwards. The heralded replacement for retired four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon lost control on the exit of Turn 4 on lap 18, damaging the nose as the No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet hit the infield grass. “I’m not sure, just got turned around there off of four,” said Elliott.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After sensational rookie campaigns in last season, second-year drivers Daniel Suarez and Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace Jr. impressed in the Saturday’s season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The day began very differently for each of the respected drivers. Suarez, 24, started the Powershares QQQ 300 on the outside of the front row in his No. 19 Toyota and remained among the top 10 for the first half of the race. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Wallace, 22, started the race atRead More