NASCAR Wire Service Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. — In semi-darkness, as the sun set behind the frontstretch grandstand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kasey Kahne did all he could to dispel the shadow overhanging his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season and his racing career. With a phenomenal restart in the second overtime of Sunday’s Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, Kahne cleared race leader Brad Keselowski through the first two corners and crossed the overtime line on the backstretch before NASCAR called the record 14th caution of the race. ThatRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Busch’s quest for an unprecedented third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway couldn’t have gotten off to a better start on Saturday evening. Streaking around the 2.5-mile track in 48.051 seconds (187.301 mph), Busch won the pole position for Sunday’s Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 (on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET) by .250 seconds over Kevin Harvick (186.332 mph). The Coors Light Pole Award was Busch’s second at the Brickyard his fourth of the season (allRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPEEDWAY, Ind. – With a new competition package that produced a race-record 16 lead changes and the closest NASCAR XFINITY Series finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, William Byron threw more blocks than an NFL fullback in holding off charging Paul Menard to win Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250. Byron made the decisive pass for the lead on Lap 85, surging past JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler into the top spot. Menard gained two spots, from fourth to second over a six-circuit stretch from Laps 90 toRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service ROSSBURG, Ohio – Using a late-race restart 18 laps from the finish and a strategy to ‘go where the others aren’t,’ Matt Crafton muscled past veteran dirt racer Stewart Friesen to win Wednesday night’s fifth annual Eldora Dirt Derby 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway. Over the last forty laps of the race, Crafton patiently worked his way from the bottom of the top-10 and took advantage of a Lap 127 caution to position himself to challenge a dominant Friesen forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – The relief was palpable. In a thrilling finish fraught with suspense, and in a backup car after a Friday crash in practice, Denny Hamlin held off a charging Kyle Larson to win the Overton’s 301 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Before the race, Hamlin and the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization was in desperation mode, but when Hamlin took the checkered flag .509 seconds ahead of Larson, the picture changed dramatically. Hamlin secured aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch’s celebratory burnout produced a cloud of smoke over the frontstretch at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but Ryan Preece’s first run in top-of-the-line equipment made an even bigger impression in Saturday’s Overton’s 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. After a major snafu on pit road took a potential win away from Brad Keselowski, who had arguably the fastest car at the Magic Mile, Busch cruised to a 10.425-second victory, collecting his third win in six starts this season, his sixth at NHMSRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – After all was said and done, the dominant car won the race – but not without extreme complications. With just over a lap to go in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. held a lead of more than 15 seconds over second-place Kyle Larson, with only eight cars remaining on the lead lap. But before Truex could take the white flag signaling the final lap, the engine in Kurt Busch’s Ford expired, dumping oil on the 1.5-mileRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – As Kyle Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota wildly during his celebratory burnout at Kentucky Speedway, the right rear tire exploded with an audible pop after it hit the drain below the apron. It was an astute call by crew chief Eric Phillips that enabled Busch’s tires to survive long enough to win Saturday afternoon’s rain-delayed Alsco 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the 1.5-mile track. In effect, Phillips was the architect of Busch’s second victory this season, his fourth at KentuckyRead More

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – Christopher Bell survived an accident and an early spin to win Thursday night’s Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Bell picked up his third victory of the season, his first at Kentucky and the fifth of his career, holding off runner-up Brandon Jones by .187 seconds at the end of a closing 32-lap green-flag run. “This is pretty special,” Bell said in Victory Lane. “We had our ups and downs. Practice (onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Kevin Harvick won Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event at Sonoma Raceway. That was like taking candy from babies. But Harvick mixed it up with the big boys in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, and the outcome was the same. Executing an ideal strategy for the long green-flag run that consumed the second half of the race—minus roughly 200 yards—Harvick won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event for the first time this season, the first time at Sonoma andRead More