NASCAR Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first big shakeup of the offseason takes place at Kaulig Racing, as 12th-place points finisher Ryan Truex will be replaced by Justin Haley, who signed a multi-year deal to now drive the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The 19-year-old is fresh-off his sophomore season at GMS Racing, scoring three wins at three different circuits at Gateway Motorsports Park, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Texas Motor Speedway, with the latter locking himself in the Championship 4, where he finished third in theRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The talk of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season was all around the ‘Big Three’ of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr. Rightfully so, given that the trio went to victory lane in 20 (Busch – 8, Harvick – 8 and Truex – 4) of the 35 races heading into Sunday’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On paper, the deck was stacked against the Middletown, Connecticut native. Logano was the only driver of the Championship 4 without aRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. –With eight victories heading into Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch was having a career year, tying a personal-best mark with victories and setting career-highs in top-fives (21) and top-10s (27). However, Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota lacked rear grip throughout the race and struggled on pit road. It was an atypical performance from one of the strongest teams of the season when it counted the most. “We just didn’t have the rear grip thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer With so much emphasis on the Championship 4, three drivers may have strapped into their cars for the last time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The three of subject were AJ Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray, whose careers are up in the air after completing their last races in their current rides in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida. Their results might’ve been what defined each of their seasons, with McMurray in 18th and Allmendinger in 19th, while sixth-place KensethRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – After pacing all three rounds of qualifying on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Cole Custer appeared to be the favorite, especially when taking into account his domination of last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Ford EcoBoost 300. In 2017, he led 182 of the 200 scheduled laps – a race record – and set the record average speed for an Xfinity Series race at the track (136.140 mph). After the first two stages of Saturday’s race, it was déjà vu as Custer led all 90Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The clear favorite heading into the championship race on Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway was Christopher Bell. The Norman, Oklahoma native had a stellar rookie campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning seven times to break the rookie record for wins in a season (previously five, set by Greg Biffle – 2001, Kyle Busch – 2004 and Carl Edwards – 2005). Bell qualified second in the No. 20 GameStop Transformers Toyota and was scored in the sixth position at the end of StageRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – After the checkered flag fell at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, Elliott Sadler climbed from his race car and shared an ice cold Bud Light with his JR Motorsports teammates. The long-time Xfinity Series veteran is retiring from full-time competition after a NASCAR national series career that started in 1995 behind the wheel of equipment owned by his mother Bell Sadler. The night didn’t go as Sadler would have hoped, as he finished 14th in the No. 1 One Main Financial Chevrolet after making aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A quiet, but stellar performance by John Hunter Nemechek resulted in a third-place finish in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, but came up one spot short of bringing Chip Ganassi Racing the Owners’ Championship. Nemechek showed strong pace all afternoon and into the night, with only Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer, who was the guy to beat for the Owners’ title, owned the competition the opening 93 laps. A known trademark of the 1.5-mile circuit is running the high-line, which Nemechek did butRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Championship 4 Contender Cole Custer swept all three rounds of knockout qualifying and will lead the field to green in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Custer’s final round lap at 165.598 mph in the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford bested fellow championship competitor Christopher Bell in the No. 20  Gamestop Transformers Toyota. “Sure it gives you a little bit of confidence but it doesn’t pay anything to win the pole, so we still have to do what we haveRead More

Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Score one for the underfunded teams as Brett Moffitt and Hattori Racing Enterprises took the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship on Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Moffitt led a race-high 59 laps in the Ford EcoBoost 200 and beat pole sitter Grant Enfinger to the checkered flag by 2.000 seconds for his sixth victory of the season. The 2018 season was a constant battle for funding for the team owned by former driver Shigeaki Hattori of Japan, with the low point being theRead More