kyle larson Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor The season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, which has had various name changes and format changes over the years, having recently been known as the Sprint Unlimited, will have a new name and format for the 2017 running of the event that is reminiscent of the early years of the race. On Wednesday, Daytona announced that the race, which began its life in 1979 as the Busch Clash, will be known as “The Clash” for next season. The race held the Busch Clash monikerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Homestead, Fla. – Call him Seven-Time. Jimmie Johnson joined NASCAR’s most exclusive club on Sunday, winning the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, putting the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on par with icons Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. “You’re a good man, you’re a great champion, and now you’re a seven-time champion,” crew chief Chad Knaus radioed to Johnson, who grabbed the lead from Kyle Larson through Turns 1 and 2Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor It all comes down to this. After 35 race weekends, the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season comes down to one final race to determine the champion. Four drivers head into Homestead-Miami Speedway and the Ford Ecoboost 400 with an equal shot at the championship, while the other 36 drivers in the field are simply looking for a win to cap off the season. Since its reconfiguration in 2003, Homestead has provided some great racing on its progressive banking on one of the true ovalsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Johnny Sauter won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with a third-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leaving race winner William Byron to consider what might have been. As Byron and Tyler Reddick battled for the lead, Sauter passed Championship 4 contender Matt Crafton for third-place on Lap 119 of 134 at the 1.5-mile track. Sauter then pulled away to claim the championship as Crafton faded to seventh in the closing laps. Byron, the polesitter,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Chip Ganassi sees the relationship between his team and fellow NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick’s only improving as they move forward. Hendrick Motorsports has supplied engines to Chip Ganassi Racing since the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. However, after Stewart-Haas Racing elected to move from Chevrolet to Ford, which is set to start in 2017, it terminated the alliance built up between SHR and Hendrick. This situation led to speculation that CGR may become even more closely affiliated with the 11-time NASCARRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Joey Logano earned a return trip to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a year’s absence. Kyle Busch will head to the South Florida track to try to defend his 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. And Kevin Harvick won’t be competing for the title for the first time since NASCAR debuted its elimination Chase format in 2014. Needing a victory to advance, as it turned out, Harvick finished fourth in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. In aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Saving his best effort for the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Phoenix International Raceway, substitute driver Alex Bowman won the pole for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC), the race that will determine the Championship 4 drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Filling in behind the wheel of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowman covered the one-mile distance in 25.619 seconds (140.521 mph) to win the first CoorsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Grabbing the lead after a restart on Lap 171 of 200, Kyle Larson moved to the top of the track just in time to hold off polesitter Brad Keselowski for the victory in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. In a race that saw Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez open some breathing room in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase with respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes, Larson got a push from sixth-place finisherRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Kanas Speedway started with a green flag run of 58 laps before the first caution flew for fluid on the track. The remaining 142 laps featured 10 cautions for 51 laps and changed the complexion of the Chase for several drivers. A Lap 165 accident ignited when Brandon Jones made contact with Justin Allgaier collected six drivers and resulted in heavy damage for Darrell Wallace Jr. as well as Allgaier. Wallace would immediately head toRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kyle Busch turned a lap at 182.100 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying to take the top spot for Saturday afternoon’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. It was the eighth pole of 2016 and 56th of Busch’s XFINITY Series career, but his first at Kansas in 12 starts. Kyle Larson qualified third, spoiling a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top-three starting positions as Erik Jones qualified second with teammate Daniel Suarez fourth. In addition to Busch andRead More