Denny Hamlin stayed up front early and stayed up front often on his way to claiming his second career Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. The Chesterfield, Virginia native survived a wild, crash filled night and got away from Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch in the closing stages on the final 20 …
New playoff system. New qualifying procedure. New attitude. As NASCAR heads towards Daytona in 2014, all around the sport are focused on the positive, looking for the perfect season to recapture a nation currently preoccupied with other sports, along with the Olympics in Sochi. Can they do it? As Speedweeks dawn, both NASCAR’s Sprint Unlimited …
The penalties against Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 should absolutely be rescinded—or at least substantially reduced. While I understand that NASCAR doesn’t have a “gray area” when it comes to rules regarding the connecting rods, these penalties are simply too harsh. First of all, no educated, experienced engineer, crew chief, etc. in the garage area says …
*Sprint Cup: A Series Of “Almosts”* Saturday night’s Richmond race, a prime example of why winner Kevin Harvick is called “The Closer” leaves behind a long list of “what might have beens.” The driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet, used to charging from behind in crunch time came from seventh place, making daredevil moves on a green-white-checkered finish and only led a grand total of three laps during the race.
But Harvick’s gain, “Happily” stealing a trophy underneath everyone’s nose left up to a half-dozen drivers scratching their head. Once again, Matt Kenseth and the No. 20 Toyota had the dominant car, leading the most laps (140) only to have the wrong handling package down the stretch. Coming home seventh, he’s now led a total of 303 laps the last two weeks and has just 37 points to show for it. Clint Bowyer, who also led a huge chunk of the race (113 circuits) had no choice but to settle for second.
*Who…gets my shoutout of the race?*
One thing about racing — sometimes the driver who _should_ win doesn’t, and that’s exactly what went down on Laburnum Avenue Saturday night. *Juan Pablo Montoya* had the best car late and was driving like he owned the place before a late crash by Brian Vickers shuffled the field and left Montoya on the outside row for the restart. That was all she wrote as it was Kevin Harvick who was able to make the move to the front on a green-white-checkered run to the finish; Montoya was left sitting fourth.
Brad Keselowski’s 2013 was off to a solid, if unspectacular start; eight races in the Sprint Cup Series had yielded four top fives and seven top 10s, but recent weeks had found him less and less a part of the conversation when it came to victories. Despite entries in every Nationwide Series race to that point, he had only managed two top-5 finishes, while fellow Cup regular Kyle Busch ran away with the majority of the first six races.
by Justin Tucker Coming into the 2013 season the one word that could sum up Kevin Harvick’s season outlook was uncertainty. Harvick, who made the announcement last season that he would be leaving Richard Childress Racing at the end of 2013 for Stewart-Haas Racing, faced doubt and questions about his decision to leave the only …
“That was a heck of a first lap of the restart. I thought that the outside line might have the advantage because it had a couple of guys with new tires in the second row, and lined up on the outside. But the two tires – these cars drive a lot off the left rear …
TRD Recalls Three Engines from No. 15 Team According to the Associated Press, three Toyota engines have been recalled by the manufacturer from Clint Bowyer’s No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing team. This was in response to the penalty NASCAR issued to Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 team after a connecting rod was found to be outside …
Never Fear, the Underdogs are Here: Richmond I Edition by Amy Henderson Editor’s Note: This year, we’re going to switch things up a little bit. Instead of just focusing upon one underdog (or underreported) car in the Secret Star section, we will point out three smaller teams that put up good finishes each week. Underdog …
Who says Joe Gibbs Racing teammates don’t get along? Kyle Busch is certainly receiving gifts, from Denny Hamlin in the form of shiny trophies from winning the latter’s annual charity event. Rowdy was romping through the field again at Richmond Thursday night, taking control at the race’s midpoint and cruising during the latter stages to …
_”There is no truth. There is only perception.”_ _Gustave Flaubert_
The beauty of sports is that they’re a form of entertainment. You don’t need to know every lap, number, and fact in order to lay back and enjoy the show. That’s why for every diehard, no matter what you’re covering there’s about ten other people who know just enough to get by. Life has a funny habit of getting in the way of these hobbies: kids, work, bills, or even a beautiful Spring Day, which more than half the country experienced on Thursday that clearly supersedes some 30-minute research into the NASCAR Rule Book.
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