The Chase Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Kyle Busch came up short in defending his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing sixth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Busch finished third in the championship standings, five points behind race-winner and seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and two points behind second-place Joey Logano. “It’s very challenging,” Busch said of how tough it is to repeat as champion. “The biggest thing is you just don’t know where anybody is until the end. I mean, (Jimmie)Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Daniel Suarez started from the pole position after turning a lap at 169.924 mph  in knockout qualifying and led a race-high 133 laps en route to winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and the XFINITIY Series championship. The 24-year-old driver from Monterrey, Mexico became the first Latin American driver to win a NASCAR national series championship and is the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program to win a NASCAR XFINITY Series championship. “Man, I don’t think IRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer Sunday’s championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway marks the first time Jimmie Johnson has made it to the Championship 4 in this the third season of the current version of the Chase format. The past two seasons have seen Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch win the final race of the season to earn the championship. Despite 79 career victories, the 1.5-mile track in Florida is one of just four on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule where Johnson has yet to win. However, it’s important toRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas — Daniel Suarez lined up fourth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway, and on the initial start of the race he made a bold three wide move for the lead. Suarez would not get the lead, but the bold move cemented the fact that he was going to be a driver to deal with all day long. But around the mid-way point of the event, Suarez — who is one of eight drivers still in Chase contention —Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas — Usually race car drivers are a selfish lot. However when it comes to Justin Allgaier and Blake Koch there is nothing selfish about their friendship. The two drivers faced uncertain futures after the 2015 seasons, but they each landed new gigs in the Xfinity Series. Fast forward eight months and Allgaier and Koch are locked tight in a battle for the final transfer spot to the Xfinity Series championship race in Homestead. Heading into Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at TexasRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas — Rain washed out a pair of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice sessions on Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway, which meant Friday morning’s session would be the only chance drivers and teams would have to get their trucks tuned in for Friday night’s Striping Technology 350. Christopher Bell, one of the six remaining Chase contenders, paced the session with a laptime of 29.580 seconds, which equates to 182.556 miles-per-hour. Tyler Reddick was second-fastest, while Matt Tifft was third-quick in the session.Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor FORT WORTH, Texas — We are closing in on the final round of the inaugural Truck Series championship Chase, and one of the biggest threats for the championship with three races remaining is a rookie Phenom — William Byron. Byron, driving the No. 9 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, has set the world on fire this season breaking all-time rookie records with an impressive six victories so far in 2016. In an interview with Motorsports Tribune on Thursday, Byron admitted that he never expected toRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – He did it again. Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings and faced with an uphill struggle to make the Round of 8, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team did what they do best—win with their backs to the wall. Moments after a restart on Lap 238 of 267, Harvick cleared Carl Edwards for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 at Kansas Speedway and pulled away to win Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 byRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In the first race of the Round of 12 last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott led 103 laps before a wreck on Lap 258 ended his day and put the rookie driver three points behind the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 heading to Kansas Speedway. Elliott qualified 13th for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and was one of just three Chase drivers that started outside the top-12. Elliott cracked the top-three at Lap 121 and passed KevinRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Near the mid-point of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, 11 of the 12 Chase drivers were running in the top-12. That changed for Brad Keselowski at Lap 190 of the 267-lap race when he slid his No. 2 Ford in front of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. Keselowski got loose and a tap from Hamlin sent Keselowsi’s Ford spinning into the infield grass. The spin did a number on the Miller Lite Ford as the front-end looked as ifRead More