michael annett Tag

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  JR Motorsports driver Michael Annett has secured his ride in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for years to come. Annett and his sponsor, Pilot Flying J, have reached a multi-year deal with the team that won championships with Chase Elliott and William Byron. Annett joined the team, founded by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in 2017. In that time frame, the 32-year-old driver has earned one top-five and eight top-10 finishes. Annett’s runner-up finish in the No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro SS at Road America isRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With the regular season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series drawing to a close at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday afternoon, the standings show one thing, the championship is likely to go through JR Motorsports before it is all said and done. Three of the four drivers for the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, and Rick Hendrick, lead the re-seeded standings and the fourth team driver is also in the playoff field, leaving open the possibility that the season finale at Homestead in NovemberRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With William Byron departing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at the end of the season, JR Motorsports had a vacancy in their fourth team car for 2018 that they needed to fill. On Thursday, it was announced that Tyler Reddick would fill that vacancy after signing a multi-year deal with the team. “This is an amazing opportunity for me,” Reddick said. “Having the chance to race full-time with an organization like JR Motorsports is something I’ve worked toward my entire life. It’s aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a tough week for JR Motorsports and the No. 5 team following the loss of mechanic Adam Wright in a car crash one week ago, Michael Annett helped the healing process as he brought home his best finish of the season with a runner-up finish in Sunday’s Johnsonville 180 at Road America. “First off, we had a guardian angel riding with us this whole weekend,” said Annett. “Lost not only a great friend, great guy, and a great mechanic. Adam Wright, we lost himRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For just the second time in his career, Michael Annett will pilot the No. 5 Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet Camaro at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. After the race at Watkins Glen, Annett has a comfortable gap over those outside the Playoffs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series heading into the Mid-Ohio Challenge. In Annett’s one start at Mid-Ohio, he started 21st and finished 22nd. In 15 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on road courses, he has just one top-10 finish. That came inRead More

Courtesy of NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Last week, a blink-of-an-eye moment weighed heavily on William Byron. Saturday, the driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet lifted his head and shouted out a pent-up yelp that formed the suitable soundtrack the rookie’s first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. “I feel it all kind of comes around in racing and last week we were so close,” said Byron, who finished a mere .012 seconds behind Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin last Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. “You’ve gotRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service   TALLADEGA, Ala. – Aric Almirola charged into the lead with four laps left in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway and held off Elliott Sadler at the finish to win the third NASCAR XFINITY Series race of his career.   With the Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. plowing into the inside backstretch wall behind him on the final lap, Almirola held the top spot to the finish, beating Sadler, the series leader, to the finish line by .142 seconds.   The win wasRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As is the case anytime NASCAR visits the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, the chance of a multi-car crash is high and in Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega, the first multi-car crash of the day struck early, sweeping several contenders up in the melee. Heading down the backstretch on lap 20, last year’s runner-up at Talladega, Brennan Poole, who had already sustained some front-end damage earlier in the race, tried to move into the outside lane, but there was no room toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Heading into Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega, JR Motorsports, which currently holds the top three spots in the NASCAR Xfinity Series points standings, will be looking to make it back-to-back trips to victory lane at the 2.66-mile superspeedway. After expanding to four teams in 2017, some expected the organization to have some growing pains, but through the first eight races of the season, they haven’t missed a beat as they have established themselves as early championship favorites after falling just short last season. TheRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After finishing the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season strong with seven wins and the Rookie of the Year title, William Byron was looking to continue that success in 2017. Byron moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. Byron qualified a disappointing 17th, but behind teammate Justin Allgaier. The start of the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway seemed tame in comparison to the Truck race the night before. After a coupleRead More