NASCAR Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Bobby Labonte has enjoyed a part-time driver role for the past several seasons in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but the 51-year-old admitted he would consider the option to go racing in the Truck Series full-time if it made sense. Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup Series champion, hasn’t raced in the Truck Series since 2007, but in 10 career starts possesses one win and five top 10’s. “It is absolutely something that we have talked about and met with some people about,” said Labonte. “Again, everythingRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Sometimes second isn’t the first loser. Ty Dillon finished runner-up in last Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway, and received a nice consolation prize – the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Dillon won his Heat to become eligible for the big-money award, then earned it by finishing highest among the four Dash 4 Cash drivers in the Main. As a result of his strong showing, the Richard Childress Racing driver ascended from sixth in the standings to third, 19 points back from DanielRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Carl Edwards has long advocated for NASCAR implementing a lower downforce aerodynamics package for it race cars. Lowering the downforce on a car makes it harder to control, which causes more passing and emphasizes driver skill over engineering expertise. His wish was granted this year. Unsurprisingly, Edwards has excelled under NASCAR’s new lower downforce aerodynamics package. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver tops the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings on the strength of two wins, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He’s finished lowerRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After a spectacular afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, it was a Carl Edwards shove to move teammate Kyle Busch out of the way en route to claim his second consecutive victory of the season. Without any further delay, here are my takeaways from Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at the short track oval. 1) Back to Sunday’s a win for NASCAR For the first time in nearly two decades NASCAR returned to a daytime spring race (last year’s race was run on Sunday due to aRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – The honeymoon at Joe Gibbs Racing may be over. Yes, on Sunday at Richmond International Raceway, Carl Edwards won his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the Toyota Owners 400 and the fourth in a row for JGR, but he did so with a last-lap bump-and-run on teammate Kyle Busch, who was seeking his third victory in four events. “We did everything right – be smart,” Busch was told on his radio, after Edwards moved the No. 18 ToyotaRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Five days after the fact, Matt DiBenedetto was still basking in the afterglow of last Sunday’s sixth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. For the record, DiBenedetto scored the best result in the five-year history of BK Racing. After the race, he celebrated with tears in his eyes. More important, however, was the effect the strong run could have on the long-term NASCAR Sprint Cup Series effort of the growing organization. “Obviously, that was special for the whole team,” DiBenedetto said on Friday before openingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – For the first time this season, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the driver who was supposed to be behind the wheel. Returning sooner than expected from a burst fracture to his L1 vertebra suffered during an offseason all-terrain vehicle accident, Tony Stewart took to the track during opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice on Friday at Richmond International Raceway, preparing for his first competition of the season in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (1 p.m. ET onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – With rain threatening to fall at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers put extra effort into Friday morning’s opening practice. The effort paid off for 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick, who was fastest in practice at 129.089 mph and consequently will start on the pole in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile short track (1 p.m. ET on FOX). With the field ordered by practice speeds according to the Sprint Cup rule book, Joey Logano (128.694 mph) willRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief No other driver has electrified NASCAR’s top-three touring series recently quite like Erik Jones. The 19-year-old has already conquered the Camping World Truck Series, winning the championship last season. Jones, a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, also impressed last year in select races in relief of an injured Kyle Busch, most notably at Kansas Speedway, where he made his first career start and drove all the way up into the top-five before crashing out midway through. So, it only seems natural that Jones has been appointedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief One of the big topics heading into this weekend’s event at Richmond International Raceway is NASCAR’s lenient stance on lugnuts tightened during a pitstop, and Kurt Busch believes the time to change that stance is sooner rather than later. NASCAR has taken a ‘less policed’ approach recently, believing that the teams should have the freedom to decide on whether or not to tighten all five lugnuts during a pitstop, a decision far different than in years past when anything less than five would lead to aRead More