Toyota Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Matt Kenseth turned a lap at 192.089 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying to earn the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. The pole was the first of the season for Kenseth and the 18th of his career. Kenseth has two victories at Kansas and will look to clinch his spot in the Round of 8 with a third victory at the 1.5-mile track. “Our cars are pretty fastRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Fresh off signing with Kyle Busch Motorsports to drive a Toyota Tundra full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2017, Noah Gragson continues to be busy behind the wheel as the 18-year-old driver closes out the 2016 season. By Saturday night, Gragson will have competed in three races in three different cars over the course of seven days, starting in the Winchester 400 last Sunday before pulling double duty this weekend. Gragson is running the ARCA race at KansasRead More

By Chris Knight, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, KY – A huge push from Daniel Suárez on a restart with four laps to go in Saturday night’s eventful VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 sent Elliott Sadler ahead of Ryan Blaney to win the opening race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase at Kentucky Speedway. Sadler’s third win of the season and 13th of his XFINITY Series career was about more than just stamping his way into Round 2 of the Chase. The Emporia, Virginia, native fought for the win while thinking of his mother,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer SPARTA, Ky. – Heading into Kentucky Speedway and the first race in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase, Erik Jones and the powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing organization were a title favorite. Jones recorded four wins and 13 top-five finishes in the 26-race regular season and entered the weekend with a six-point advantage in the championship standings. Jones had a dominant car on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway, leading a race-high 100 laps before a late-race wreck ended his night in the garage instead of inRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer SPARTA, Ky. – Matt Tifft was originally scheduled to compete in over thirty races this season between the NASCAR Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series and the ARCA Racing Series. That planned changed in June when the 20-year-old driver went in for an MRI as a result of a back condition. Doctors discovered a low-grade glioma in his brain that would require surgery and keep Tifft out of competition as he recovered. After almost three months of rehabilitation, Tifft returned to competition last weekend atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Michigan, the impetus for all three manufacturers to run well is accelerated as two of the three, Ford and Chevrolet, are located down the road in Detroit, while Japanese based Toyota always looks to steal the show from the hometown favorites. On Friday, the manufacturer wars heated up ahead of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 as all three manufacturers were well represented in the top-three of the lineup for the race. Though Toyota gained the upper hand inRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Martin Truex Jr.’s hopes to return to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway evaporated in the early stages of the Pennsylvania 400. The polesitter’s No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota hit the wall on lap 20, moments after a restart following the competition caution. After leading the opening 16 laps, Truex’s right front tire went flat due to a lug nut during the scheduled pit stop cutting off the valve stem for the inner liner. “Just blew a right front (tire),” said Truex. “A lug nut bouncedRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The nominees for the annual ESPY awards were announced recently and there will be four different racing series represented in the category of Best Driver. The ESPY awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) are presented by ABC/ESPN and will be broadcast live on July 13, 2016. WWE wrestling personality, John Cena, will host the awards ceremony. The Best Driver category has been a part of the ESPYS since its inception in 1993, with Briton Nigel Mansell being the first winner. Nominees are selected byRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer The 42nd annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the Verizon IndyCar Series is now in the books. Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud took the win, followed closely by Target Chip Ganassi driver Scott Dixon. He are five takeaways from the latest edition of one of IndyCar’s crown-jewel events. 1 ) Simon sez After a decidedly lackluster first season with Team Penske, that left him 11th in the final standings, Simon Pagenaud is off to a ferocious start in 2016. His two second-place finishes, combinedRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Denny Hamlin headed into Martinsville Speedway with high hopes to overcome mistakes from recent visits at the half-mile oval, but Sunday’s STP 500 proved no different for the defending Daytona 500 champion. Hamlin, 35, had five wins in 20 previous races at Martinsville, including 16 top 10 finishes, but he acknowledged earlier in the week that recent mistakes have hurt his chances to secure wins. Sunday proved to be no different. From the start of the race Hamlin was a man on the move, but itRead More