NASCAR Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway ended with a mere handful of cars undamaged—and race winner Denny Hamlin’s Toyota wasn’t one of them. But Hamlin got his wreck out of the way early in a two-car incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s Ford on Lap 13 and won the race in overtime with a large swatch of silver tape on the right side of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry. Hamlin triumphed in the season-opening non-points event for theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After battling his own health issues the past several years, Brian Vickers is set for a golden opportunity in replacement duty for an injured Tony Stewart. Stewart-Haas Racing announced on Friday that Vickers will run the Sprint Unlimited (a non-points event) Saturday night, and the 58th annual Daytona 500. Vickers, 32, has seen his promising career derailed with a series of health issues that date back to 2010. However, after missing all but opening two races last season, the battle-tested North Carolina native has overcome aRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Sometimes crew chiefs don’t get their full due in the sport of NASCAR. That wasnt the case Friday at Daytona International Speedway as crew chiefs were at the forefront of how the grid for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited was decided. The exhibition event’s starting lineup was decided by a random draw from the crew chiefs of the teams eligible to compete. Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, nabbed the pole position for the race. Johnson has won at Daytona three times in his NASCAR SprintRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jeffrey Earnhardt is heading into his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. Earnhardt will share the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford Fusion with 2000 Sprint Cup champion, Bobby Labonte. Labonte will drive the car in all four restrictor plate events this season, including the season-opening Daytona 500. C&J Energy Services will sponsor the car for those four events. Earnhardt’s schedule is dependent on sponsorship. GO FAS Racing has already announced that Earnhardt is expected to race anywhere between 20 to 32Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – To say that Brian Vickers appreciates the opportunity to drive the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet in place of injured Tony Stewart would be nothing short of a colossal understatement. “If anything, I feel more rested than every single person in this garage,” Vickers said on Friday at Daytona International Speedway, as Stewart-Haas announced him as the interim driver for Stewart during Speedweeks. “I’m more hungry than every single person in this garage. “I’m happier to be here, more appreciative.”Read More

On Sunday, February 11, 1979 nine NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers, the pole sitters from the 1978 season took to the track at Daytona International Speedway for the inaugural Busch Clash. Created by Monty Roberts, the Busch Clash was originally run as a way of promoting Busch Beer. The race would only be a single segment, 50 miles, and 20-lap sprint with no caution laps counting. The nine drivers who took part in first Busch Clash were Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, J.D. McDuffie, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, LennieRead More

Maximum Field Sizes / Corresponding New Points Systems NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Maximum 40-car field (36 Charter team cars, 4 Open team cars), race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR XFINITY Series – Maximum 40-car field, race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Maximum 32-truck field, race winner awarded 32 points, 32nd place awarded one point New points systems apply to driver, owner, and manufacturer championships. Existing 2015 Bonus points remain in place for 2016. QualifyingRead More

This week we talk Charter System for Team Owners - Plus we have news of the week, a visit from Helton's mustache, we laugh...a lot, preview the Sprint Unlimited, hear from Jeff Gordon before his booth duties, laugh...a lot. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby ChristieRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Word is spreading like wildfire that Brian Vickers has been the man tabbed to replace the injured Tony Stewart at the season-opening Daytona 500. Several reports citing sources close to the situation from ESPN, AP and Motorsport.com are saying that Vickers indeed is the man who will jump into the driver seat of the No. 14 Chevrolet SS. According to the reports, Vickers — who has suffered from blood clots for several years — will for now just be in the car for Daytona, butRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor We already knew that Kyle Busch had elected to skip all NASCAR XFINITY Series events at restrictor plate tracks in 2016, but Wednesday Joe Gibbs Racing announced a surprise driver who would step into the No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota Camry during the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway — Bobby Labonte. Labonte is the 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and his rise to fame in the sport came during his days running the No. 18 car, that Kyle Busch currently drives, for Joe GibbsRead More