Matt Kenseth Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 58th annual Daytona 500 is in the books and with it a new champion crowned in Denny Hamlin. With ‘The Great American Race’ now over, it’s time to revisit some of the big takeaways from the Sprint Cup season opener. 1) Hendrick Motorsports fell flat Our NASCAR Editor, Toby Christie, pointed out that this was the first time since 2009 that a driver from Hendrick Motorsports has failed to grab a top 10 finish – see that story here. With that said, the performance, orRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service If he had to do it over again, Matt Kenseth might have stayed in line in front of Martin Truex Jr., rather than moving up the track to try to block Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. But Kenseth had to make a split-second decision, and he moved into the outside lane in the final corner of Sunday’s Daytona 500. But Hamlin dived to the inside, and Kenseth nearly wrecked before regaining control of his car. Hamlin went on to win the race, andRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Toyota has spent nine long years trying to notch the manufacturer’s first Daytona 500 victory in NASCAR. It wasn’t an easy road after starting their NASCAR program from scratch in 2007. In their first Daytona 500 outing, Toyota’s highest finisher was Dale Jarrett who finished in 22nd position. Toyota’s other finishers that day were: Michael Waltrip (30th), Dave Blaney (34th), and David Reutimann (40th). It was a humbling day, but Toyota Racing Development stuck with improving their program and now in 2016, the monkey is officially off ofRead 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

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2016 NASCAR season is upon us and that means a fresh start for the drivers and teams, hope for their fans, and a set of bold predictions on how it will all play out. With our new NASCAR guy, Toby Christie, putting out his bold picks for the new season, it only seemed right that I try to restore balance on what has been predicted. Daytona 500 champion: Jimmie Johnson Johnson has two wins (2006, ’13) in “The Great American Race” and has formed aRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor We are less than 20 days away from the official start of the 2016 NASCAR season. For the next ten months battles will be waged on short tracks, big tracks and tracks that have right handed turns mixed in. Around every turn a storyline will develop, and a new headline will be etched into everyone’s mind. But we’re still days away from the spawning of the 2016 season. Right now my job is to predict exactly what will happen in the 2016 season. Chances are I willRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – With the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title now in Erik Jones’ rear-view mirror, the immediate question becomes “What’s next for the 19-year-old prodigy?” With a relatively nondescript, problem-free sixth-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jones secured the series driver’s championship, as well as the owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Discovered by Busch when he beat his future car owner as a 16-year-old in the Snowball Derby for Super Late Models, Jones delivered theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Though the line that separates acceptable racing practices from on-track over-the-line aggression may not be defined in bold paint like the line that marks the start and finish of a race, NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France contends that drivers know exactly where it is. “Do you know how many drivers have come to see (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director) Richard Buck in the last two weeks, three weeks, four weeks?,” France asked rhetorically during his annual “State of the Sport”Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After being announced as the replacement driver for a suspended Matt Kenseth, rookie Erik Jones finished 12th at Texas, but eyes the ultimate upset with a win in the desert as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix. Jones, currently the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship leader, has sat on the front row in both NCWTS starts (second in 2013, pole in 2014) and grabbed victory in each. Phoenix was the site of his first Truck Series victory and it came in just hisRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has decided to uphold the two race suspension levied by NASCAR to Matt Kenseth following a hearing earlier today. The first appeal panel consisted of Ken Clapp, Bill Mullis and Dale Pinilis, heard the testimony but came to the following decisions: The Appellant violated the rules set forth in the Penalty notice; The Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty levied by NASCAR. The second and final appeal was heard by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss and came toRead More