NASCAR Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After five seasons that included a Championship 4 berth, Ryan Newman announced Saturday that he’ll part ways from Richard Childress Racing at the end of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, vacating the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Newman confirmed his future on Twitter, describing his tenure at RCR as an enjoyable experience and wishes them the best going forward. “We were able to put competitive cars on the race track, qualify for the playoffs on multiple occasions and make a strong run for theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Before Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Erik Jones considered himself a sleeper entering the first race of the Playoffs. That was before the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota announced his presence by winning the pole for Sunday’s opening postseason race, the South Point 400. Jones toured the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in 28.705 seconds (188.121 mph) to earn his first Busch Pole Award of the season and the secondRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Jimmie Johnson made a lot of eye contact with the reporters eager to gauge his Playoff expectations Thursday afternoon at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day. The sincerity in his voice and the passion of his words left no doubt. He is as motivated as he has ever been to end a first of its kind season-long winless streak. A championship run now would certainly change the narrative. Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman have qualified forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – You can’t accuse Kevin Harvick of flying under the radar heading into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs—not a guy with seven victories in 26 regular-season races and speed in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Fords everywhere he goes. But Harvick isn’t approaching the postseason with the braggadocio of an odds-on favorite. “I’m just along for the show,” Harvick said during his appearance at a fan event at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa. “For us, we’ve had aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kasey Kahne will sit out the next three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, beginning in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Also announced Tuesday was Regan Smith taking driving duties for Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for at least those three events. The 18-time Cup winner sat out the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard due to lingering heat exhaustion, the first time he’s ever missed a Cup race in his entire 15-year career. Smith finished onRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second time in the last four starts, Ryan Preece has failed to finish after crashing into the Turn 2 tire barriers in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Monday, resulting in a red flag. On the 80th lap, Preece restarted alongside Tyler Reddick in row three, but the inside lane got the push, and he couldn’t challenge Reddick. Therefore, his challenger became John Hunter Nemechek at the South Short Chute. Preece was able to get an advantage over Nemechek and was runningRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There won’t be a playoff berth four-peat for the soon-to-be departing Chip Ganassi Racing driver Jamie McMurray. Needing a win to make the playoffs, McMurray was on the cusp of stealing a win, running inside the top-five, but had to settle for seventh in Monday’s Big Machine Vodka at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the highest among drivers who failed to qualify for the postseason. The regular season finale saw its turning point on Lap 145 when McMurray stayed out for valuable track position, afterRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Heading into Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard, Alex Bowman sits in the 16th and final spot in the championship standings as he seeks to clinch a spot in the playoffs after taking over the reins of the No. 88 Chevrolet from the retired Dale Earnhardt, Jr. While Bowman has a wide enough margin over Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to clinch a spot based on points, the 25-year-old could get bumped from the playoffs if there is a new winner outside the currentRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the first time in the history of the Brickyard 400, the defending champion won’t compete in the 160-lap contest. Due to lingering effects of extreme heat exhaustion from last Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Leavine Family Racing announced Thursday that Kasey Kahne has been ruled out to compete in the No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Regan Smith has been tapped to replace Kahne at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start thisRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer As a person who’s watched the Verizon IndyCar Series on a regular basis since 2007, I’ve always wondered what my INDYCAR experience would be like. This past weekend at Portland International Raceway, I had the privilege of covering the series return in the Pacific Northwest, but it also brought some flashbacks of my days at the University of Idaho. Compared to my first NASCAR race as a credentialed media member at Sonoma Raceway in June, my first-ever INDYCAR experience was like jumping into a big pound,Read More