Matt DiBenedetto Tag

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 Wow, I’m speechless. If you would have asked me at the beginning of Speedweeks which teams would have four cars on the final grid for the Daytona 500, I would have obviously answered Hendrick, Stewart-Haas, Joe Gibbs Racing — but never in my wildest dreams did I think BK Racing would pull off the feat. For the mega teams I listed above, they are part of the new team charter system, which ensures that all of their cars will make every race in 2016 — BK RacingRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer Ahead of next Sunday’s Daytona 500, the 44 hopeful entrants into the Great American Race took to Daytona’s high banks to set the front row and the lineups for Thursday’s CanAm Duel qualifying races. After last season’s attempt at group qualifying, which turned into an unmitigated disaster, NASCAR made the decision to move back to single car runs for qualifying on Sunday. The new format would consist of two rounds in which all 44 cars would post a time in the first round and then theRead More

MARTINSVILLE, Va.—For last year’s spring race at Martinsville Speedway, Joey Logano set a track record during qualifying but didn’t win the pole. On Friday at the paper-clip-shaped track, Logano reversed the outcome. Though he failed to match his record of 100.201 mph, he saved his best lap for the final round of knockout qualifying in claiming the top starting spot for Sunday’s STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). Trailing Logano in the 27th starting position will be Chase Elliott, the heir apparentRead More

Newly crowned Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano won the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The front of the field will look similar to last week’s Daytona 500 finish, with runner-up Kevin Harvick starting alongside the Team Penske driver. For Logano, it is the ninth pole of his Sprint Cup Series career, but his first at the 1.54-mile track. “I really want to win here,” said Logano. “I lived here for six years. I used to race on the quarter-mile (track)Read More