NASCAR Tag

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer It was recently reported by Indianapolis newsman, Dave Calabro of NBC Affiliate WTHR, that former NASCAR and IndyCar driver, John Andretti, is fighting a battle with stage 4 colon cancer. Andretti, 54, is the nephew of racing legend, Mario Andretti and cousin of IndyCar team owner Michael Andretti. His father, Aldo (twin brother to Mario) also had a racing career that was sidelined early on after an accident. One of the last true Renaissance men of racing, John Andretti enjoyed a unique career that sawRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – Matt Kenseth won’t have to come from the middle of nowhere, as he did last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started 22nd, charged toward the front in the closing laps and finished fourth. Quite the contrary. In Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (on FOX at 2 p.m. ET) at Richmond International Raceway, Kenseth will lead the field to the green flag in the ninth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season after winning the pole during Friday’s knockoutRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The Verizon IndyCar Series will make its return this weekend to the Valley of the Sun for the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. The race weekend is scheduled for April 28-29, 2017 About the Race The race will be round four of seventeen for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Phoenix will be the first oval track event of the season, in a schedule that features six oval races. IndyCars returned to the track last season after an absence of 11 years. The defending raceRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Texas -– Jimmie Johnson proved on Sunday that you can’t keep a good driver, a good car and a good team down for long—even if you change the playing field at one of his favorite race tracks. The seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion passed Joey Logano for the lead on Lap 318 of 334 and pulled away for his first victory of the season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at newly repaved and reconfigured Texas Motor Speedway. The winRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — For the first 170 laps of Sunday’s 334 lap O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, it was all Ryan Blaney. The 23-year old driver for the Wood Brothers Racing Team had led 148 laps — the first time that the No. 21 team has led more than 100 laps in an event since October of 1982 — But a caution near the end of Stage 2 set up a disappointing conclusion to the race for Blaney. While Blaney optedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to his old form in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Being mired deep in the starting lineup didn’t faze him, neither did a new track configuration. The only obstacle that really challenged Earnhardt all day was the intense Texas heat. During the race, on a bright sunny 81 degree day, Earnhardt’s helmet cooling fan malfunctioned. A gassed Earnhardt talked about his boiling day after climbing from his racecar. “It was warm. I thought the carRead More

By Beth Lunkenheimer, Contributing Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — The offseason brought about some pretty major changes to Texas Motor Speedway. While many drivers were quite fond of the rough surface at the 1.5-mile oval, nestled just north of Fort Worth, Texas, something had to give after the porous surface held rainwater through multiple race weekends last season. The speedway announced a major improvement project back in January that brought a fully repaved surface. Additional drainage was added, and the surface was reconfigured. The banking in Turns 1 and 2Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — It had been a rocky start to the season for NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender Cole Custer. Through the first five races of 2017, the 19-year-old driver had already crashed out twice (Daytona and Fontana), and had finished 21st-or-worse in three races. In Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, Custer flipped the script and had one of the best races of his brief Xfinity Series career. Custer rolled from the grid in the sixth position toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Bubba Wallace came into Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway riding a four-race streak of finishing his No. 6 Ford Mustang in the sixth position. Early in the running of Saturday’s race he looked like a safe bet to have another good run, but at lap 66 it looked like the streak had been busted. Contact by Tyler Reddick, who was running the high lane at the treacherous reconfigured 1.5-mile speedway, sent Wallace spinning and the spin collectedRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Trevor Bayne comes into this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway 15th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings. It has been a great start to the season for the 26-year old Roush Fenway Racing driver. However, if Bayne is going to get his fifth top-15 finish of 2017 on Sunday, he will have to overcome a lot of adversity. In Saturday’s final practice session, Bayne, who was 10th fastest in the session, just pushed theRead More