NASCAR Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service This year’s unique NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race format, which requires the first nine, 10 or 11 drivers to start the final 13-lap segment on old tires (with the specific number determined by lot) with cars on new tires behind them, already has drivers thinking about hypothetical scenarios. Drivers in 12th place or worse entering the final segment, where only green-flag laps count, will be guaranteed fresh rubber, and that number is crucial to a lot of calculations. “We have to see how the tiresRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – After announcing a multiyear extension to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick used much of his media session on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway to set the record straight about rumors that had run amok since the announcement earlier this season that SHR would switch from Chevrolet to Ford in 2017. Harvick said there wasn’t a shred of truth to reports he had been contacted by Hendrick Motorsports to replace Kasey Kahne in the No.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – Matt Kenseth’s luck took a turn for the better, after Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet took a turn that wrecked half the field in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway. In a thrilling 35-lap run to the finish that featured Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in hot pursuit of Kenseth – and of each other – Kenseth manhandled a loose race car to the stripe, arriving .187 seconds ahead of Larson to win his first NASCAR SprintRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – After last Saturday night in Kansas, Martin Truex Jr. needed a home game, and Dover International Speedway – the site of Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism (1 p.m. ET on FS1) – is the closest NASCAR track to his native New Jersey. “It’s always good to come here,” Truex said. “It’s my home track. I love coming up to this race track for a lot of reasons. Of course, being close to home is always neat, but a lot ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – It took 16 tries, but Matt Crafton finally got his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Dover International Speedway. Holding off hard-charging Daniel Suárez throughout a 27-lap green-flag run to the finish of Friday’s Dover 200 at the Monster Mile, the two-time series champion picked up his first win of the season and the 12th of his career, all but assuring himself a berth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase. “We’ve gotten close and we’ve had veryRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – With the threat of rain on Friday at Dover International Speedway, there was an urgency to opening practice and a need for speed in the session. Strong runs in qualifying trim paid off for Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will start first and second, respectively, in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at the Monster Mile (1 p.m. ET on FS1), with positions on the grid set according to practice speeds. “I think (the weather) definitely changes the approach,”Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kyle Busch finally overcame his gremlins at Kansas Speedway in a race that left Martin Truex Jr. overcome with frustration. On Saturday night—in stark contrast to many of his prior misadventures at the 1.5-mile track—Busch waited until after the Go Bowling 400 to destroy his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, a feat he accomplished during his celebratory burnout. Busch took the lead for good on Lap 231 of 267 after Truex, who led a race-high 172 laps, brought hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – William Byron remembers watching NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races when he was six years old. Now 18, Byron has a win in the series he watched as a child. But it took a strong truck and a stroke of good luck for Byron to win Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 and reach Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway for the first time in five series starts. Driving the No. 9 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Byron was third when frontrunnerRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Taking control in the final three laps of Sunday’s wreck-filled GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski claimed his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at the 2.66-mile race track and solidified his spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Choosing the top lane for a restart on Lap 186 of 188, Keselowski powered his No. 2 Team Penske Ford past Kurt Busch with two laps left and crossed the finish line as a gaggle of cars wrecked behindRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – On his 41st birthday, Elliott Sadler got an unexpected present. When Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race ended under caution in overtime with the front-runners just short of the finish line, Sadler had the lead, after Joey Logano’s last-ditch attempt to block Sadler in the tri-oval ended with Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford plowing nose-first into the outside wall. Brennan Poole got to the finish line first and thought he had won the race, until NASCAR officials reviewedRead More