Jimmie Johnson Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Jimmie Johnson finished third in his final race at Dover International Speedway, a track he’s conquered a record 11 times throughout his 19-year NASCAR Cup Series career. Despite capturing his fourth top-five of the year, Johnson had to overcome a speeding penalty early in the race which set him back to 30th. As the race began to wind down, he had worked his way back into the top-10 and when the caution came out for Corey LaJoie on Lap 290, crew chief Cliff Daniels made aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service There was no drama in Kevin Harvick’s victory in the Drydene 311 at Dover International Speedway, an old-fashioned thrashing in the back end of a Saturday/Sunday NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader. There was more than enough suspense, however, in the battle between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and William Byron for the final position in the Cup Playoffs. After winning the first stage at the high-banked concrete Monster Mile, Harvick had already clinched the regular-season Cup championship and the 15-Playoff-point bonus that goes with it,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Mile. Bristol on steroids. No matter the nickname, Dover International Speedway lives up to the hype as being one of the most physically demanding racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit and plays host to yet another doubleheader weekend that has found it’s way onto the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for two separate races in May and August, the two events will now take place in two 311-lap events on Saturday and Sunday to make up two of the finalRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No practice, no qualifying, new course. No problem for Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Chase Elliott. The 24-year old Elliott gave a not-so-subtle reminder Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Cup Series debut on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course that he is one of the sport’s very best on the technical road circuits, even sight unseen as was the case this week. Just before a caution flag with five laps remaining, Elliott had pulled out to a 10-second advantage on the field.Read More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The names read like a list of motorsports legends: Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Hurley Haywood, Scott Pruett, Scott Dixon. All these storied racing champions have won trophies for their work driving the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. And this weekend, for the first time in its 61-year history, Daytona International Speedway’s road course will host regular season points races in all three NASCAR national series. The iconic Daytona high-banked 2.5-mile superspeedway where NASCAR’s best traditionally race (including twice this season) will insteadRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Normally Michigan International Speedway’s two annual NASCAR Cup Series races would take place roughly two months apart, but this year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic means both races will take place over one weekend. Double the fun. The first race of the weekend on August 8 will be the rescheduled Firekeepers Casino 400, originally planned for June 7, with the Consumers Energy 400 taking place the following day on August 9. With these races taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturersRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a rare Thursday night race last weekend at Kansas, it’s back to regularly scheduled programming as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. First joining the Cup Series circuit in 1993, the 1.058-mile oval that has progressively banked turns from two to seven degrees is one of the more difficult tracks on the schedule as the flat nature of the track makes track position key with passing at a premium. As has beenRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer William Byron may have wound up 10th after what looked like a banner night was in store, but Thursday’s Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway played a big role on the top-16 playoff grid. Going into the 267-lap race, Byron was only a mere two points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson for the 16th and final playoff spot and was ahead of 18th place points man Tyler Reddick by 12 points. However, things looked different on top of the No. 24 Axalta pitRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Moving away from Charlotte for only the second time since its conception, the NASCAR All-Star Race heads to Bristol Motor Speedway Wednesday night for one of the most anticipated races in the event’s 35 year history. Racing at Bristol is always intense, but with $1 million on the line for the winner, the intensity should get cranked to 11. The aggressiveness that the drivers will show on the high-banked bullring that is called “The Last Great Colosseum” to take home the coveted Bristol trophy and theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Kentucky is known for horsepower of a four-legged kind with the state hosting the prestigious Kentucky Derby each year, but back in 2011, the state gained a new kind of horsepower when the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Kentucky Speedway for the inaugural running of the Quaker State 400. After years of lobbying for a Cup Series date to go along with the Xfinity Series and Truck Series races the track had been hosting since opening its gates in 2000, the Speedway Motorsports Inc. owned trackRead More