Tony stewart Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With Silly Season in full force, another domino fell on Tuesday as Danica Patrick announced that she will not be returning to the driver’s seat of the No. 10 Ford and Stewart-Haas Racing in 2018. Patrick’s contract with SHR went through 2018, but was contingent on her having sponsorship to be able to continue with the team. As the weeks and months have gone along, it became more and more likely that sponsorship opportunities were not lining up for Patrick and her future with SHRRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Before Furniture Row Racing became the juggernaut it is in 2017, the Colorado based team had to scratch and claw for everything single position on the track, especially in their early years. The team which just started a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule back in 2008 brought Regan Smith on board starting in 2009 for a part-time schedule before moving back to full-time the next season. Smith came onto the Cup Series scene with Bobby Ginn and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2007, butRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since 1994, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been racing on the hallowed grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the past 23 years producing some memorable moments and some that were, well, not so memorable. For this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater,” we’ll jump back to the 2002 running of the Brickyard 400 that resulted in NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott finally adding an Indianapolis win to help end his career on a high note. Between 1982 and 1994, Elliott won 41Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor You wouldn’t think a driver that grew up on the dirt tracks of Kansas would be one of the best road course racers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but over the years, Clint Bowyer has found success making left and right turns, especially at Sonoma Raceway, site of this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. In a season where he has had some hiccups with his new ride at Stewart-Haas Racing, a trip out west to California wine country could be just what the doctorRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor For the second time in as many races at the two-mile track that is Michigan International Speedway, a familiar face ended the day in victory lane as Kyle Larson won Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 to notch a second victory in 2017. In addition to Larson’s triumph, here are five of the top storylines leaving Michigan. Larson’s Win Keeps NASCAR’s Youth Movement Going For the fifth time in 2017 and fourth time in the last six races, a driver with less than five years in theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Entering the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan in June 2012, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had gone four long years since his last trip to victory lane, which came in the same race on Father’s Day in 2008. With the weight of the world on his shoulders and his rabid fan base willing him to victory, Earnhardt silenced the doubters with a dominating win on the two-mile oval. With a freshly repaved track greeting the drivers as they arrived at Michigan, speeds immediately began to skyrocket onRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Harding Racing has perhaps one of the more interesting team dynamics in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage area. It’s a mix of old school experience with some new school enthusiasm and talent and it’s helped a partnership that started as a technical alliance between Dreyer and Reinbold Racing and Harding Group. For the driving side of the team, the old school/new school partnership is between Al Unser Jr. and Gabby Chaves. Unser Jr. drove in 19 500s and with theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Memorial Day weekend in the motorsports world means one thing, racing’s greatest day beginning with F1 at Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, and ending with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, we’ll take a step back a decade to look at a win by a member of a family known more for their open wheel exploits than those in stock cars. Of course, we’re talking about Casey Mears’ upset win in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600. Mears hadRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – A far cry from Wednesday’s Chevrolet domination, Honda found themselves at the top of the speed charts during Thursday practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 with an unfamiliar face at the top. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’s Jay Howard turned a lap of 226.744 mph, the fastest of the month on his ninth lap of the day around the 2.5 mile oval. However, Thursday was not without its problems. Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden became the first major victim of wallRead More

By Aaron Bearden, NASCAR Contributor Like many in the NASCAR world, I was left with a torrid mixture of happiness and sadness amid Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s retirement release on Tuesday morning. There was shock to the suddenness of the announcement, one of the few news stories in recent years to not be leaked (looking at you, Stewart-Haas Racing to Ford announcement). But at the same time, Earnhardt’s retirement – coming in his 18th year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and following a season marred by concussion-like symptoms – was expected sooner ratherRead More