Michael McDowell Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With his tenure at Hendrick Motorsports coming to a close at the end of the season, Kasey Kahne had to look for a new home for the 2018 season and beyond and on Tuesday, it was announced that Kahne will move over to Leavine Family Racing and their No. 95 Chevrolet next year. “I want to thank Leavine Family Racing for this opportunity and will work as hard as possible to help them continue improving,” said Kahne. “I am ready for this challenge and lookRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona provided action and excitement from beginning to end, culminating in Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. scoring his second win of the season. Along with Stenhouse’s win, there were some other storylines leaving the World Center of Racing. Making Mississippi Proud With his second win of the season and second in as many restrictor plate races, Stenhouse becomes the fifth driver to obtain multiple wins this season, giving himself some added insurance for the playoffs. While some might have listed DaleRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The major story of Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s final run at his beloved Daytona International Speedway in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – turned out to be a footnote to Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s masterful victory in a war of attrition that produced a race-record 14 cautions. The driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, who got his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in his 158th career start twoRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the first time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, Michael McDowell scores a top five finish in the Coke Zero 400. McDowell finished fourth after aggressively working his way up through the field in the No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet SS. In addition to scoring his career best finish in NASCAR’s Premier series, McDowell scored Championship Points in Stage 1. He finished the stage in the sixth position, netting five points. The biggest moment of the race for McDowell came whenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “Talladega: World’s Fastest Junkyard,” quipped FOX Sports announcer Mike Joy after an 18-car crash broke out on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile superspeedway with 19 laps to go in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Couldn’t have summed it up any better. After a relatively quiet race by Talladega standards through the first 170 laps, the inevitable “Big One” was coming and when it came, it certainly was big. Coming off Turn 2, AJ Allmendinger, who was running third, made contact with the second-place driver, Chase Elliott, turningRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After running on a part-time basis since their inception in 2011, Leavine Family Racing announced on Thursday that the team would be running the complete season in 2017, with Michael McDowell and Todd Parrott returning as the driver/crew chief combo for the team’s No. 95 entry. McDowell and Parrott will run all 36 races this upcoming season, making the organization Chase eligible for the first time in its history. Along with Leavine Family Racing running full-time for the first time, the 2017 season will alsoRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As 2016 comes to a close in just a few days, we’ll take this opportunity to look back at some of the best moments of the NASCAR season. This week, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is on the docket, so without further ado, here are the top five moments that stole the headlines in 2016. Daniel Suarez Captures Xfinity Series Championship at Homestead In the first year of the Chase in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the Championship Four came down to a battle between Joe GibbsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Earlier this week, news came out that Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing had purchased a team charter from Tommy Baldwin Racing for the 2017 season and beyond. Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the good news just kept rolling in for the race team. For most of the Ford EcoBoost 400, the team had two drivers inside the top-20. Ty Dillon led the way with a car that was hanging inside the top-15, while Michael McDowell looked to have about an 18th-place car. TheRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Denny Hamlin won a wild race at his home track, and the top four Chase hopefuls entering Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 all held serve at Richmond International Raceway in an event that ended in overtime after a record 16 cautions. Jamie McMurray locked up a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a seventh-place finish, and Austin Dillon did likewise with a 13th-place run. Sunoco rookies Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher both weathered some tense momentsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Several weeks ago, NASCAR history was made when Truck Series rookie William Byron, Xfinity Series rookie Erik Jones, and Sprint Cup Series rookie Chris Buescher swept the weekend in their respective series. It was the first time that rookie drivers had ever swept a three-race weekend in NASCAR National Series history. This weekend, three more drivers added their names to the record books for the first time. Brett Moffitt scored his first career victory in the Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway (MIS),Read More