Michael McDowell Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Florida native Aric Almirola drove to a convincing victory in the opening Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona qualifying race Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway. Almirola’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford led a dominating 52 of the 60 laps and held off Christopher Bell’s No 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota by a mere .041-seconds for the Tampa native’s first victory in the Daytona 500 field-setting race. Ryan Newman, who was involved in a frightening last lap crash in last year’sRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Front Row Motorsports announced its official 2021 NASCAR Cup Series plans Wednesday morning as Anthony Alfredo will become a full-time driver and David Ragan making his return to the Daytona 500 being the highlights. Alfredo, who spent the past season running part-time for Richard Childress in the Xfinity Series, will replace John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 38 Ford Mustang. Ragan, who finished fourth in last year’s weather and crash-marred “Great American Race,” will run the No. 36 Ford once again. Car owner Bob JenkinsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In a battle of two of stock car racing’s titans, Kevin Harvick swapped the lead with Kyle Busch and held off the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion over an intense string of closing laps to win Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Harvick picked up his ninth victory of the season, his second of the Round of 16 in the Playoffs and his third at Bristol. The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford finished .310 seconds ahead ofRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No practice, no qualifying, new course. No problem for Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Chase Elliott. The 24-year old Elliott gave a not-so-subtle reminder Sunday afternoon in the NASCAR Cup Series debut on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course that he is one of the sport’s very best on the technical road circuits, even sight unseen as was the case this week. Just before a caution flag with five laps remaining, Elliott had pulled out to a 10-second advantage on the field.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Leavine Family Racing will end its 10-year run in the NASCAR Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2020 season, team owner Bob Leavine said in a statement released on Tuesday. Citing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on his team, Leavine noted that the organization would not be in a position to compete after this season, leading to the sale of the No. 95 team to a new owner and his exit from the sport when the final checkered flag falls at season’s end.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It won’t be a Wednesday night to remember for Bubba Wallace after being taken out on Lap 17 of the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coming down the back stretch, Wallace was running in fourth but faced pressure from behind as Michael McDowell and William Byron was hot on his tales. Then disaster struck as McDowell clips Wallace at the entrance of Turn 3, destroying Wallace’s No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. McDowell would get hit from Byron, sending him around butRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR announced Wednesday its latest batch of races for August, highlighted by the Daytona International Speedway Road Course as all three national touring series and the ARCA Menards Series are set to compete there for the first time. Initially planned for the Busch Clash next year, the 3.56-mile road circuit will kick start a busy month for “The World Center of Racing” as it’ll host two race weekends in a span of three weeks, highlighted with Cup’s regular season finale being held at the 2.5-mile superspeedwayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A medical update was announced Tuesday regarding Ryan Blaney’s right tire changer Zach Price, who was injured following a pit road accident during last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Zach’s wife Tasha confirmed to IndyStar’s Gregg Doyel that he has a tibial plateau fracture on his lower left leg and will be out for 3-4 months to give the fragmented bone to heal. Fortunately, surgery won’t be necessary for Zach as he’ll be on crutches for the next 3-4 weeks and can gradually put moreRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service In an action-filled afternoon of NASCAR Cup Series racing in Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records, Kevin Harvick held off the field in a overtime sprint to the finish line to earn his fourth victory of the season, and his second consecutive and third overall win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To celebrate the big victory, Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team climbed the front grandstand fence – reminiscent of the fence celebration his team owner, IndianaRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Benefiting from a two-tire pit stop with 36 laps left, Kevin Harvick held off charging Denny Hamlin over the final green-flag run to win for the first time at Pocono Raceway. Harvick crossed the finish line in Saturday’s Pocono Organics 325 .761 seconds ahead of Hamlin to post his third victory of the season – tying Hamlin for the NASCAR Cup Series lead – and the 52nd of his career, 12th most all-time. “We weren’t where we needed to be to start the raceRead More