News about Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and more.
7
Oct
TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 6, 2008) - Whenever the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races at Talladega Superspeedway, the unexpected can and probably will happen. The unexpected definitely took place for Joey Logano in his Truck Series debut during Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 Fueled by Winn-Dixie. Logano, piloting the No. 59 Team ASE/Raybestos/HT Motorsports Toyota Tundra, qualified […]
6
Oct
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Wrecked Chase contenders, two red flags, record lead changes and a Tony Stewart victory on a controversial finish.
The Amp Energy 500 was a show for the ages. Unfortunately, it also was a tire explosion waiting to happen.
Sound familiar?
Once again, tires were a major issue in a 2008 Sprint Cup race, and no […]
2
Oct
Marcos Ambrose will become the first Australian to race fulltime in the top flight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009, with plans of his campaign confirmed in an announcement from JTG Daugherty Racing.
The 32-year-old former V8 Supercar champion will pilot the No.47 Toyota Camry for the outfit, co-owned by Tad and Jodi Geschickter and former […]
2
Oct
1. Taming Talladega
Talladega Superspeedway, the biggest wild card in NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Chase for the Championship, is up next. The AMP Energy 500 is 2 p.m. Sunday on ABC. This is sure to be an exciting race! With “the big one” looming over the Chase Drivers. This race can change everything in the Chase for […]
2
Oct
It’s been a tumultuous week for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. In the past 72 hours alone, it has lost two primary sponsors, a driver and been forced to deny rumors of an outrageous comeback. But no amount of crazy news off the track will mask the fact DEI is headed for its worst season in nearly […]
15
Jul
Kyle Busch now has 7 wins and has won the last 4 races. He is on track to break Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon’s NASCAR single season win record in the Modern Era (1972-Present). This record is 13 wins, Gordon and Petty both have accomplished this feat.
Can Kyle Busch break this record? With 17 […]
2
Jul
Scotland’s Dario Franchitti
Franchitti has not lived up to expectations so far in Nascar
Reigning IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti has lost his Nascar drive after owner Chip Ganassi closed the Scot’s No 40 team.
The 35-year-old has struggled in his first year since switching to Nascar and Ganassi said he could not justify going on without new sponsorship.
“There’s […]
25
Jun
Carl Edwards feels your pain. So does Denny Hamlin.
While their occupation as NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers might suggest otherwise, Edwards and Hamlin are just like every other American who has been staggered by the cost of gasoline. After all, they’re paying the same price at the pump as you when they go to fill up […]
23
Jun
06/21/2008
THERE are many reasons to like Dale Earnhardt, Jr., some that don’t make much sense.
He has a famous father. He has a smile and a wit that can light up a room. And he looks pretty good and comfortable in a pair of jeans in a TV commercial.
But, c’mon. The guy has won exactly one […]
22
Jun
June 21, 2008
Remember all that hype? Remember those who wondered if it was just too much?
Could an 18-year old with no experience at the level he was entering handle the eyes of a NASCAR world intently focused on him without falling on his face?
Well, it’s starting to look like all that hype, all […]
22
Jun
Sunday, Jun 22, 2008
Jeff Gordon had 30 top-10 finishes, including six wins, in 36 Sprint Cup races last year. SONOMA, Calif. NASCAR’s annual trip to Sonoma has always been a celebration for Jeff Gordon. Surrounded by family and friends, he enjoys some fine wine, a game or two of croquet and his many personal milestones.
Two […]
21
Jun
Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Writer - San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, June 20, 2008
Kasey Kahne captured his second pole in his last three NASCAR Sprint Cup races - and his first road course pole - on Friday with a smooth, conservative dance through Infineon’s Raceway’s twisting and blazing hot course.
He’ll be in top position for Sunday’s 110-lap […]
21
Jun
Gender no issue, unlike other series
Ashley Force and Melanie Troxel battle for Funny Car titles. Hillary Will competes in Top Fuel. Angelle Sampey and Karen Stoffer race Pro Stock motorcycles.
And no one cares that they are women.
In a motorsports year in which so much has been made of Danica Patrick’s victory in IndyCar and a […]
20
Jun
There was a litany of significant firsts for Dale Earnhardt Jr. June 15 at Michigan International Speedway.
First, just winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup race that had more irregularities in the waning laps than a Florida vote tally was a momentous achievement, especially when you consider that Junior passed the pace car under yellow late in […]
19
Jun
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The Car of Tomorrow is making life hotter for NASCAR’s drivers today.
Heat-stricken drivers had just enough strength to rant about the topic earlier this month at the Pocono 500 and the conversation was a hot topic again last week at Michigan International Speedway.
“I heard someone make a comment, ‘They’re race-car drivers, making […]
16
Jun
BROOKLYN, Mich. - What began as a bruising week for NASCAR, which suspended two officials named in a blockbuster $225 million racial discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former Nationwide Series technical inspector, culminated on a positive note when one of its marquee names, winless for almost two years, finally made it back […]
4
Jun
Unlike other big league professional sports, NASCAR’s teams and drivers don’t disclose compensation. The public knows what Peyton Manning, Alex Rodriguez and Kobe Bryant earn, but can only guess and wonder about Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.
NASCAR does release money won from purses, and it’s a recognized fact that drivers get a […]
3
Jun
It was a rough weekend for many top drivers of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, as half of the top 12 in points were damaged in a monster wreck.
I could go play-by-play on how the wreck took place, but why not just check it out below? One thing I found disturbing is the comment made by […]
30
May
The two exchanged heated words at the Coca-Cola 600.
1 NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series races at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sunday, and it remains to be seen whether Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon have put their recent mini-feud behind them. Gordon is a four-time winner at Dover, a high-banked, concrete track known as “the Monster […]
27
May
Saturday, Joey Logano is slated to make his first start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the Helluva Good 200 at Dover International Speedway. It’s the first time Logano, a developmental driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, will get the chance to get behind the wheel in one NASCAR’s national division’s.
For the 18-year old Middletown native, […]
25
May
CONCORD, N.C. - For years, especially since the split between IndyCar circuits IRL and CART in 1996, stock-car racing has enjoyed a lofty existence as the premier form of motorsports in the United States.
Now that IRL and CART have solved their differences and unified into one circuit, many wonder how long NASCAR can hold its […]
25
May
CONCORD, N.C. — Haas CNC Racing’s two qualified Sprint Cup cars for Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 were confiscated by NASCAR Saturday afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and taken to its nearby research and development center.
The garage had barely opened when the two Haas cars were summoned to NASCAR’s template “grid” inspection area; and shortly after, […]
24
May
COMPILED BY RON GREEN JR.
The Charlotte Observer
Friday, May. 23, 2008
Some notes, observations and one-liners from pole night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway:
By The Numbers
4
Times Kyle Busch had started on the pole in his 126 Cup starts.
8
Number of tracks to be owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. after the announcement Thursday that it will own Kentucky Speedway (along […]
24
May
By Ryan McGee
ESPN The Magazine
I was just glancing over our ESPN.com Top 25 Drivers of All Time list, and, going from the bottom up, everything seemed pretty normal. Granted, Don Garlits being ranked behind Shirley Muldowney was a little odd, and I’m not sure where Bobby Allison, Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney went (I had […]
23
May
By Keven Kelly and Patrick Crowley / The Cincinnati Enquirer
Posted: May 22, 2008
The Kentucky Speedway in Sparta is being sold to one of professional auto racing’s biggest operators.
Speedway Motorsports Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., and its founder and chairman Bruton Smith will announce this afternoon that it is purchasing the speedway in a deal that is […]
22
May
CONCORD, N.C. — Several of NASCAR’s top Sprint Cup drivers hope to end long winless streaks Sunday at the series’ longest race of the season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and former Cup champions Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth are among those trying to end dry spells — and slow the momentum of Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards […]
22
May
ARLINGTON, S.C. (May 9, 2008) NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 88 Navy Chevrolet Monte Carlo, takes a moment for photographs with members of the crew of high-speed vessel (HSV) 2 Swift prior to the start of the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway. Swift Sailors attended the race as part of […]
21
May
By Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY
CONCORD, N.C. — Some NASCAR drivers would give their spare tires for the chance to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Not 2000 Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Been there, done that. “I’ve done it. I’ve won it. It’s hard to think about doing it again,” says Montoya, who […]
21
May
Sitting on the pit wall at Darlington Raceway, Leonard Wood shakes his head in disbelief. Mere minutes before the start of the Dodge Challenger 500, the legendary mechanic can’t help but chuckle as he looks at all the horsepower around him. Man, he thinks to himself, what his Wood Brothers Racing team could have done […]
20
May
Canadian Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was a matchup NASCAR could only dream of: Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force going head-to-head in the first all-female Funny Car elimination round.
Troxel won the round, made it to the finals and ultimately claimed the title Sunday at Thunder Valley Nationals - making her the first woman in NHRA history […]
20
May
Matt Kenseth is about to join a group of former Cup champions that already includes Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch. His membership will be official when he becomes another former Cup champion who has failed to make the Chase, NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.
Kenseth still has time to make a comeback, just as he […]
18
May
Dale Jarrett finished 22nd out of 24 drivers in his final race, Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star event. It’s nowhere indicative of the kind of driver and champion Jarrett has been over the years. Although he didn’t make our all-time All-Star list (see it here), he was one of the best drivers of his generation […]
16
May
“Go all-out,” is the response Jeff Gordon had when asked how he was going to approach Saturday night’s All-Star event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I think the All-Star race is a fantastic event.”
Gordon and the late Dale Earnhardt are tied for the most victories in the All-Star race with three. Interesting to note is that […]
10
May
DARLINGTON, S.C.: Car owner Richard Childress watched Dale Earnhardt win a lot of races and wreck his share of competitors through the years. And while Kyle Busch has gained a reputation for hard driving Earnhardt-style, Childress says the 23-year-old is no “Intimidator.”
“I don’t think there’s a comparison,” Childress said Friday. “Maybe some of what happens […]
9
May
Michael Waltrip sat helpless in the garage as the laps counted down at Richmond last Saturday night. Parked by NASCAR after contact with Casey Mears turned into an ugly, intentional wreck, the 45-year-old veteran could do nothing to save face in the latest of a series of missteps since his self-owned program moved to Toyota […]
7
May
Kyle Busch, like most prairie fires and runaway trains, arrived when the world wasn’t ready for him. For instance, the story at Hendrick Motorsports this year was supposed to be the arrival of Dale Earnhardt Jr., not the departure of Busch. Many knew of Busch’s talent, but few anticipated that he would become the central […]
4
May
Edwards re-signs with Roush: Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing has signed a multi-year stay with the team on Thursday. His old contract was thru the end of 2008. Carl Edwards said Friday he signed a multiple-year contract extension to continue driving the #99 Ford, a decision that takes NASCAR’s […]
3
May
Ten years, two NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships, 29 Cup wins and the partnership between Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs Racing and The Home Depot is still going strong. 2008 marks the tenth anniversary of one of the sport’s most recognizable pairings as Tony Stewart continues to carry the intense orange color of NASCAR’s Official Home Improvement […]
25
Apr
Jeff Gordon announces his foundation’s latest partnership with Speed Racer Enterprises. A special paint scheme featuring The Jeff Gordon Foundation, along with the iconic characters from Classic Speed Racer, was unveiled during the show in addition to a new line of Action Racing Collectables die-cast from merchandise partner Motorsports Authentics, Inc. Jeff selected Speed, a […]