Sprint Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Carl Edwards ran a lightning-fast lap in the first round of Saturday’s knockout qualifying at Sonoma Raceway—and it worried him. “After that first lap—I have to be honest—I sat here and thought, ‘Man, I’m really going to screw this up on the second one,’ ‘cause the first one was really good, but it held on for the pole, and so I’m really excited.” Edwards toured the 1.99-mile road course in 1 minute, 14.392 seconds (96.301 mph) in the first round andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Since when is finishing last a good omen? It could be for Kyle Busch, who finished 43rd at Michigan last year before scoring the breakthrough victory at Sonoma that propelled him into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and ultimately to the series championship. A year later, Busch comes to Sonoma fresh from another last-place run at Michigan—40th this time because of the smaller Sprint Cup starting grid under the Charter system instituted this season. Last year, Busch missed theRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Over the course of his Sprint Cup Series career, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s biggest Achilles Heal had been Sonoma Raceway. Through his first 14 starts at the track, Earnhardt had never recorded a top-10 finish. He even once threatened to blow the track up with dynamite to demonstrate his frustration with the weaving and winding track in the land of wine. However things began to take a turn for Earnhardt at Sonoma two seasons ago. That year he qualified a lackluster 17th, but when the raceRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor No team has been stronger in 2016 than the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. Led by reigning champion, Kyle Busch, the team sports seven victories through the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first 15 races of the year. However the team has a huge problem shaping, and it’s one that many other teams probably wish they had to deal with — they have too many talented drivers, and not enough cars to put them in. Currently the Sprint Cup Series team is packed-full with Busch, Carl Edwards, DennyRead More

SHOW #416 – Guest: Brennan Poole – We recap the Xfinity/Trucks Iowa weekend, Jeff Gordon on a short list, Jimmie Johnson gets a Nick Nom, Chase is marketable, Dale Jr. wears a hat, plus a full road course preview of Sonoma. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie DOWNLOAD HERE CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERE SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take us with you! Subscribe to our audioRead More

SHOW #415 – Driver Spotlight: Daniel Suarez, we recap the Michigan race weekend, tell you what some drivers are doing for the off weekend, #42 busted again, who is on Forbes richest list from NASCAR, ThorSport burns, a full Iowa preview, plus we unveil the all new Final Lap logo (like it?) Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie DOWNLOAD HERE CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERERead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Following a third-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, we learned that Kyle Larson’s car failed post race laser inspection. As a result we knew there would be punishments, Wednesday we learned as to what extent the team would be punished as NASCAR sent out it’s penalty report. The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team received a P3 penalty in Michigan post-race inspection. As a result, driver Kyle Larson and team owner Chip Ganassi have each been docked 15 championship pointsRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Kyle Larson, who was without his full-time crew chief Chad Johnston this week, because of a lug nut violation at Pocono Raceway has failed post-race inspection following the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Larson came home with an impressive third-place finish, but according to NASCAR his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, prepared this week by interim crew chief Philip Surgen, fell outside of the tolerance on the laser scanner following the event. A NASCAR Spokesperson states that any penalties stemming from this violation willRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor I’m sure I sound like a broken record by now, but Kyle Larson is closing in on finding victory lane in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  Racing this week without his crew chief, Chad Johnston (suspended after a lug nut violation in Pocono) Larson qualified seventh for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, and he was in contention all day long thanks to some great work on restarts. “My restarts were pretty good,” Larson said after the race. “You’ve got to have a good guy behindRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jimmie Johnson had a decent day going in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. He started from the 16th spot, but by the mid-point of the race, Johnson had emerged as a solid top-10 car. He even led four laps during a cycle of green flag stops from lap 99 to lap 102. But at lap 162, things began to come undone for the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Trevor Bayne and Johnson were battling for position, when Bayne washed up the track and intoRead More