Daytona Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Parker Retzlaff may have scored his first career top-10 finish in NASCAR’s premier division, but it’s his road to a seventh-place result that folks will be looking back fondly for years to come. During Saturday’s chaotic Coke Zero Sugar 400, the 21-year-old driver from Rhinelander, Wisconsin escaped all the big wrecks and blow overs to put himself in excellent position of bringing Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 team home with a strong result. “It was just really aggressive. Everyone was pushing as hardRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The Daytona 500 can be a game of inches. Sometimes it’ll lead to racing glory like William Byron or an absolute gut-punch like his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, who finished second in Monday’s race. All as a result of coming up just short of besting Byron when the caution came out. Due to the runner-up finish, Bowman’s winless streak extends to 67 races dating back to Martinsville in fall 2021. Despite the clear disappointment of losing out on bringing HMS its first 500 win sinceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s never an ideal way to kick off a NASCAR season when a driver’s Daytona 500 ends in less than 10 laps. The case was proven on Monday when a Lap 5 crash collected seven drivers in the tri-oval, ending a few of their days and their dream of hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Of those involved were former Daytona 500 winners Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon, as well as Daytona 500 rookie Carson Hocevar. Also involved were Ryan Preece, Kaz Grala, John Hunter Nemechek,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The future is indeed now in the NASCAR Cup Series. Not because it’s the first-ever regular season race with the current car (known as NextGen), but it also saw another first-time winner in the Daytona 500. In just his eighth career Cup start, Austin Cindric brought Team Penske its third win in “The Great American Race.” While the No. 2 team celebrated, other drivers were either heartbroken or collected in wrecks that’ll prove costly to team’s due to the supply shortage of the current car. DespiteRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chase Briscoe had an adventurous second crack at the Daytona 500 where he ultimately finished third. At one point towards Stage 1, a shot of being towards the front went south after being involved in the opening caution on Lap 42. Kaz Grala had lost a wheel on the backstretch with Briscoe trying to avoid the carnage. Suddenly, Briscoe was hit from behind by eventual Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric sendng him for a spin. Over the radio, Briscoe asked “who ARCA-brakedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona International Speedway dealt a great hand for Greg Biffle during Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel Race No. 2. On a race that was intense from start to finish, Biffle had to race his way into the Daytona 500 — something he hasn’t dealt with in nearly two decades. Fortunately, Jacques Villeneuve’s woes throughout the night gave the 2000 Truck Series champion a one-way ticket to leading the open cars. The only way for Biffle to make the race was stay in frontRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 17 team began the day with optimism, but it initially ended with a crushing runner-up finish by Chris Buescher. Nearly two hours later, their entire day went under as Buescher’s team was disqualified for an illegal track bar mounting assembly as specified in Rule 20.3.3.3.b REAR SUB-FRAME ASSEMBLY; I-4 Track Bar Mounting Assembly “The track bar mounting assembly must conform to the following drawing:  FRAME-TRACK BAR MOUNTING ASSEMBLY A-002-01171D-19 REV. A” Thus, Buescher will be credited with a 40th place result forRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two multi-car crashes became the end of the road for Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones and Tyler Reddick making the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. During Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, all three had different implications. Those being Jones looking to wrap-up his final year with Joe Gibbs Racing with another playoff berth, Reddick trying to keep the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle alive and Johnson aiming for one last shot at an eighth Cup title. Due to those accidents, noneRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Nothing but smiles from Gray Gaulding after a last lap drama involving two Kaulig Racing teammates saw him go from sixth to finishing second in Friday’s Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway. As the leaders were running in Turn 3 for the last time, it appeared Gaulding’s No. 07 Walk-Ons.com Chevrolet Camaro was fighting with Austin Cindric for the final top-five spot. That would all change once Ross Chastain’s attempt of going for a very slim opening to get by leader and teammate A.J. Allmendinger completelyRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Entering his 16th Daytona 500, Martin Truex, Jr. will be strapping in the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry for the first time without long time crew chief Cole Pearn. Ushering a new era will be James Small, who will be on top of the No. 19 pit box for the first time. However, there isn’t much of a void since Pearn ended his NASCAR career during the off-season. In fact, it’s business as usual for Truex who’ll look to haveRead More