NASCAR Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill.— Erik Jones recorded his second-best finish of the 2018 season, bringing home a sixth-place result in Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the second straight top-10 result for the 22-year-old driver after finishing seventh at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. With Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. combining to win 13 of the first 17 races of the season, many positions in the Playoffs will go to drivers that haven’t visited victory lane this season. After Chicagoland, only nine racesRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The finish on Sunday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway is exactly the finish that the sport needs in a day and age when declines in ratings and attendance have become a significant concern. The fans that braved the hot, humid and muggy conditions got their money’s worth as Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson put on a fantastic final lap that resulted in beat-up sheet metal and a respectful handshake between two of the best competitors in the sport today. With 20 laps to goRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Everything seemed to be going Clint Bowyer’s way in Stage 1 during Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, leading 21 of the first 38 laps, but multiple pit road penalties halted his aspirations of scoring his third win of the season. While the recovery was slow, he went from two laps down to back on the lead lap by staying out longer than the leaders, and clawed his way back to a fifth-place finish for his sixth top-five this season. “Yeah, weRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The stars and cars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will take to the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday to do battle in the Overtons’ 400. The intermediate tracks that dominate the schedule sometimes seem one and the same, but the track 50 miles outside of Chicago has begun to take on a character all of its own as the racing surface ages and bumps develop aided by the harsh Midwest winters. The 2017 MENCS Champion and defending Chicagoland race-winner Martin TruexRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer For the first time in NASCAR history, two international series will exchange drivers for one race in each other’s championship this season, NASCAR announced on Saturday morning. The exchange will occur at the Grand Prix de Trois- Rivières (GP3R) in August and at the Euro Whelen season finale at Zolder in Belgium in October. “This exciting idea creates an opportunity to showcase two major initiatives that were implemented in 2017: Spectra Premium’s commitment as a manufacturer and sponsor of motorsports, and its recent launch intoRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The month of June hasn’t been kind to Ben Rhodes with finishes of 16th, 17th and 19th in the past three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events. But the end result in Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway was just the momentum Rhodes and his ThorSport Racing team needed at this point in the season. Rhodes crossed the stripe in the second position to earn his best finish of 2018 and best since his victory last September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. AndRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Outside pole sitter Dalton Sargeant was poised for a turnaround, running inside the top-five for much of the night to keep his playoff hopes alive. That all changed on the 60th lap when a battle for third went awry, as Sargeant’s No. 25 Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet Silverado ended up with the short straw in Friday’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway in Jolliet, Illinois. Exiting Turn 1, Sargeant was in a tight three-wide battle for third, battling against John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen.Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — What a month of June it’s been for Iowa native Brett Moffitt. The 25-year-old driver went to victory lane at his home track of Iowa Speedway and sits third in the championship standings as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series readies to compete in the Overtons 225 on Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway. But it was uncertain whether the Hattori Racing No. 16 Toyota would get loaded on the hauler and make the trek from North Carolina to Illinois all the way upRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — For the second time in his career, Martin Truex, Jr. scored a win at Sonoma Raceway, ending the streak of nine different winners in nine years. After being heartbroken last year, Truex spoke about his two wins during the press conference, saying how he still recalls winning in 2013 for at the time, Michael Waltrip Racing, and treats each win as if it’ll be his last. “I remember that win like it was yesterday. It was huge,” said Truex. “I really feelRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Banking on a late race caution to score his second straight win at Sonoma Raceway, Kevin Harvick didn’t get one and finished second in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350, leading 35 of 110 laps. “We all make mistakes, and we all do things for a split second that you might be right after it all happens,” said Harvick. “These guys do a great job. Everyone on our Mobil 1 team has done a great job the last five years now.” Harvick said ratherRead More