NASCAR Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Denny Hamlin, winner of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at the Glen, entertained a sold-out grandstand with a celebratory burnout that trailed a plume of smoke the entire length of the frontstretch at Watkins Glen International. But Hamlin’s smoke show—with a bad back, no less—paled in comparison to the fireworks that preceded the checkered flag, Hamlin’s first at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series road course. The race was in doubt until the final corner, with Martin Truex Jr. pressuring Hamlin, who ledRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Erik Jones and Furniture Row Racing made it official on Sunday morning at Watkins Glen International. In 2017, Furniture Row Racing will expand from one car to two, with Jones driving the No. 77 Toyota under sponsorship from 5-hour Energy. The addition of Jones brings to six the number of full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams receiving comprehensive factory support from Toyota Racing Development (TRD). A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones, 20, will team with veteran Martin Truex Jr., whoRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer No one wishes for weather-shortened races, but in small doses the wild card aspect of these events can add excitement and intrigue to an otherwise predictable NASCAR tour. Chris Buescher’s upset victory at Pocono Raceway in Monday’s Pennsylvania 400 isn’t likely to carry the same praise that other weather-shortened races have provided in the past after mother nature literally rained on the parades of Kyle Larson in his search for his first Sprint Cup Series win. However, what the win does do is offer storylinesRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Pocono Raceway featured no Sprint Cup drivers in the field. Then again, the race didn’t need any representation from NASCAR’s top division, as dominant as William Byron was. The 18-year-old from Charlotte, N.C., led 44 of 60 laps in the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota in a caution-filled event and pulled away to beat runner-up Cameron Haley to the finish line by a comfortable 1.407 seconds. The victoryRead More

By: Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Martin Truex Jr. found a lot more than light at the end of the Tunnel on Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. Gaining time on the rest of the field through Turn 2—the Tunnel Turn—at the 2.5-mile triangular race track, Truex put his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400 (on NBCSN at 1:30 p.m. ET), knocking fellow Toyota Camry driver Carl Edwards out of the top starting spot. It’s not that Truex and hisRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Sprint Cup Series points leader Kevin Harvick will be without his crew chief Rodney Childers this weekend at Pocono Raceway after a suspension from NASCAR. NASCAR announced Wednesday that Childers has been suspended from NASCAR competition through Aug. 3 and fined $20,000 after Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet was observed with improperly installed lug nuts following Sunday’s Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Childers, 40, has also been placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31. Stewart-Haas Racing has elected not to appeal the decision. InRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Stewart-Haas Racing announced Monday it will field a full-time, single-car NASCAR XFINITY Series team in 2017. The driver and sponsor lineup for the team will be announced prior to the conclusion of this season. The team will operate out of SHR’s headquarters in Kannapolis, North Carolina. “In order to maintain the competitiveness that has earned SHR two championships since our debut in 2009, we needed an outlet to develop drivers and team personnel for the Sprint Cup Series,” said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart-Haas Racing’s vice president ofRead More

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Mission accomplished, a record set, and a torch passed to the next generation. Kyle Busch set a Brickyard record for laps led and became the first driver to sweep both a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series race from the pole in the same weekend, but the real symbolism of Sunday’s Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway didn’t come until the event was over. As Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota in a celebratory burnout and took his customary bows near the yard ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – Brad Keselowski had his mojo working in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Saving just enough fuel to get to the finish line, Keselowski eked out a heart-thumping victory over Carl Edwards to win his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and his third at Kentucky Speedway. But this was not the same bumpy, abrasive Kentucky Speedway where Keselowski went to Victory Lane in 2012 and 2014. This was a repaved, reconfigured 1.5-mile intermediate track fraught with treachery,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – Sometimes it pays extra dividends to be the points leader. That was certainly the case on Friday afternoon, when rains earlier in the day constricted the on-track schedule at Kentucky Speedway. Because practice time was more important to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams than time trials, the sanctioning body opted to cancel qualifying for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) in favor of an evening practice session at the recently repaved and reconfigured 1.5-mile track. This weekendRead More