Sprint Cup Series Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Retaking the lead with five laps left in the first of Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel 150-mile qualifying races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruised to a dominating victory and grabbed the third staring spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500. In the second Duel, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch took the checkered flag under caution after a wild last-lap wreck took out the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, AJ Allmendinger and Danica Patrick and damaged the No.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor 15 years. Today marks 15 years since the darkest day in NASCAR’s 68-year history. The day I’m of course referring to is the tragic moment when the world lost seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was at the forefront of NASCAR’s popularity boom from the late 1980s to the 1990s. He was raw, real, and was never afraid to lay the bumper to anyone if it took doing so to take home the trophy. Earnhardt was the blue-collar guy, who wasn’t there to make friends. Earnhardt was a driver thatRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor 17 years ago Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a talented, young up-and-coming driver, fresh off of a championship in the NASCAR XFINITY (then Busch) Series, who had a very famous last name which helped push expectations to an unreasonable level. Sound familiar? If so, it’s probably because it’s nearly the exact same scenario that Chase Elliott finds himself in as he heads into his maiden voyage in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On Tuesday at Daytona 500 Media Day, Earnhardt hit the topic of his newRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor NASCAR has a new set of rules for their green-white-checkered finishes in 2016 and one race into the much-hyped ‘overtime’ rules, we’re already seeing a continuation of a recurring theme – anticlimactic finishes. The Sprint Unlimited was a fiercely contested race. All night long drivers were weaving in and out of traffic, spectacular crashes ensued and all along the way the suspense built toward what seemed to be an epic battle for the win between Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and a whole host of others. This trulyRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Sometimes crew chiefs don’t get their full due in the sport of NASCAR. That wasnt the case Friday at Daytona International Speedway as crew chiefs were at the forefront of how the grid for Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited was decided. The exhibition event’s starting lineup was decided by a random draw from the crew chiefs of the teams eligible to compete. Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, nabbed the pole position for the race. Johnson has won at Daytona three times in his NASCAR SprintRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Jeffrey Earnhardt is heading into his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. Earnhardt will share the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford Fusion with 2000 Sprint Cup champion, Bobby Labonte. Labonte will drive the car in all four restrictor plate events this season, including the season-opening Daytona 500. C&J Energy Services will sponsor the car for those four events. Earnhardt’s schedule is dependent on sponsorship. GO FAS Racing has already announced that Earnhardt is expected to race anywhere between 20 to 32Read More

On Sunday, February 11, 1979 nine NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers, the pole sitters from the 1978 season took to the track at Daytona International Speedway for the inaugural Busch Clash. Created by Monty Roberts, the Busch Clash was originally run as a way of promoting Busch Beer. The race would only be a single segment, 50 miles, and 20-lap sprint with no caution laps counting. The nine drivers who took part in first Busch Clash were Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, J.D. McDuffie, Benny Parsons, David Pearson, LennieRead More

Maximum Field Sizes / Corresponding New Points Systems NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Maximum 40-car field (36 Charter team cars, 4 Open team cars), race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR XFINITY Series – Maximum 40-car field, race winner awarded 40 points, 40th place awarded one point. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Maximum 32-truck field, race winner awarded 32 points, 32nd place awarded one point New points systems apply to driver, owner, and manufacturer championships. Existing 2015 Bonus points remain in place for 2016. QualifyingRead More

This week we talk Charter System for Team Owners - Plus we have news of the week, a visit from Helton's mustache, we laugh...a lot, preview the Sprint Unlimited, hear from Jeff Gordon before his booth duties, laugh...a lot. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby ChristieRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Word is spreading like wildfire that Brian Vickers has been the man tabbed to replace the injured Tony Stewart at the season-opening Daytona 500. Several reports citing sources close to the situation from ESPN, AP and Motorsport.com are saying that Vickers indeed is the man who will jump into the driver seat of the No. 14 Chevrolet SS. According to the reports, Vickers — who has suffered from blood clots for several years — will for now just be in the car for Daytona, butRead More