Daytona International Speedway Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the first time in 18 years, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. didn’t have a race to run when the Daytona 500 went green last Sunday and for the 15-time Most Popular Driver, that was fine by him. While in Daytona to support his Xfinity Series teams and serve as the Grand Marshal, Earnhardt was asked how he felt not having to worry about being behind the wheel for the Great American Race and he noted how refreshing it was to not have the pressure of raceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Restrictor plate racing is a strategic game, requiring critical thinking to make the right moves. A few days removed from Sunday’s Daytona 500 and it has dawned on me how frustrating this current era of racing has become. What happened to the word patience? The days of strategizing your move without causing a junkyard is gone. Part of this has to do with three things — stage racing, the demand of winning the Great American Race at an all-time high, or just a generational problem.Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer The ARCA Racing Series opener at Daytona International Speedway was a chaotic war of attrition. But for Willie Mullins and his volunteer-based Mullins Racing, it was the night an offseason of effort proved worthwhile – when trash was turned into Daytona treasure. Mullins dodged the race’s seven crashes and held his position through the final one-lap sprint to the checkered flag to claim a second-place finish in the Feb. 10 Lucas Oil 200. The result was Mullins’ first top five in 12-career ARCA starts, a feat madeRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer One of the two remaining teams from the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season has shut its’ doors. Jim Rosenblum’s FDNY Racing made its final start in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway. FDNY Racing never scored a victory, or a top-10, but were always a feel-good story in the Truck Series. The team was always one of the many under-funded teams, made up primarily of part-time employees and volunteers. Rosenblum’s team was not as competitive as their peers, but usuallyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Dillon prevailed in a game of Survivor played at 200 miles per hour, winning the Sunday’s Daytona 500 fiercely and unapologetically after turning race leader Aric Almirola in the third corner of the final lap. Ten of the 40 drivers who started the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening event finished on the lead lap in a race that featured eight cautions and three massive wrecks that eliminated many of the strongest cars in the field. After a huge pushRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When it comes to iconic names in the Daytona 500, Richard Petty is second to none, and on Sunday, his car brought home a second-place finish in the Great American Race with heralded rookie Darrell Wallace, Jr. behind the wheel. After an offseason of turmoil that saw changes in manufacturers, drivers, shop locations, and more, Richard Petty Motorsports has come out swinging in 2018 with Wallace as their driver, showcasing their new alliance with Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet on theRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  Only two multi-car teams had all of its’ cars finish inside the top-10 in the Daytona 500. JTG-Daugherty Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger and Chris Buescher was one of them with both drivers finishing inside the top-10 in the 60th running of the “Great American Race.” Both drivers had to escape incidents that wiped out many of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors. Buescher somehow had a quiet race at Daytona International Speedway on his way to a fifth-place finish. His No. 37 Kleenex Chevrolet CamaroRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat was the storybook ending in Sunday’s 60th running of the Daytona 500. For Aric Almirola, he drew the short straw, losing the lead on the last lap after being turned by Austin Dillon, who won the Great American Race for the first time in his career. “It was the last lap and we’re all trying to win the Daytona 500.  It’s the biggest race of the year and it’s a career-changing race, so we were justRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer In a Daytona 500 that turned into a game of ‘survival of the fittest,’ Paul Menard survived to finish inside the top-10. It was Menard’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race with the Wood Brothers Racing Team. His No. 21 Omnicraft Ford Fusion was up front for much of the 500 miles at Daytona International Speedway. On the final restart, Menard lined up in the back of the pack of cars that remained. He pushed Darrell ‘Bubba’ Wallace, Jr. forward as cars jockeyed for position.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The first part of the “Danica Double” didn’t quite go to plan in Sunday’s Daytona 500. Making her final NASCAR start, Danica Patrick gave herself a fighting chance to try and win the Great American Race, but the roulette wheel that is restrictor plate racing, just didn’t fall her way as she got caught up in a crash on lap 101. After starting 28th, Patrick was biding her time as she worked her way forward in the pack, but when thingsRead More