Tony Stewart Looks for Positive Ending to Sprint Cup Series Career

Photo - Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Ever since Tony Stewart won his last Sprint Cup Series championship in 2011, life has been awful rocky. Stewart let his crew chief, Darian Grubb, go after the 2011 season and picked up Steve Addington as his crew chief. He won three races in 2012, but was nowhere near the success he had, finishing ninth in points. With only three wins, 12 top-five and 16 top-ten finishes, Stewart’s downward spiral had actually begun. But not in the way anyone could have ever imagined. Continue reading

Harvick Needs More Wins to Regain the Sprint Cup Title in 2016

Photo - Robert Reiners/Getty Images

Photo – Robert Reiners/Getty Images

Being a defending Sprint Cup Series champion is never easy.

Once a driver becomes champion, they have a huge target on their back. The wins are harder to come by when the new season begins, and the same strategy from last year doesn’t work this year.

For Kevin Harvick in the 2015 season, he easily could have had more wins. Not because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but because he finished second more times than any driver last season. And that is just not rewarding enough. Harvick has 12 second place finishes against three wins and that doesn’t seem to sit well for Harvick as he heads into this season. Continue reading

Fan4Racing News Now: for the Week of January 18, 2016

Fan4Racing News Now – highlighting NASCAR Pre-Season breaking news for each week leading up to NASCAR season openers at Daytona International Speedway in February.

Check back throughout the week for new updates as they become available. Thanks! Continue reading

Rick Allen Finds his Home on NBC Sports Network

Photo - NBC Sports Group

Photo – NBC Sports Network Sports Group

When NASCAR returned to the NBC Sports Group this past season, it wasn’t too much of a hassle to fill the spots needed to analyze and call Sprint Cup Series races. NBC could have reached out to Adam Alexander or Allen Bestwick, since TNT and ESPN lost their rights. Alexander moved on to FOX and Bestwick stayed on at ESPN for other duties. Marty Reid could have been a near perfect fit, but he was let go by ESPN over two years ago for prematurely giving Ryan Blaney the win at the Kentucky 300 during the 2013 XFINITY Series race. Continue reading

NASCAR Announces Innovations for XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash, Camping World Truck Series Caution Clock

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NASCAR

NASCAR Announces Innovations For

NASCAR XFINITY Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

 

XFINITY Dash 4 Cash Races To Include Two Heats & Main;

Caution Clock Introduced For NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell announced today several racing-related innovations to the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, beginning with the 2016 season, designed to ignite and energize the growth of each series.

In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, where “Names Are Made,” each event in the popular Dash 4 Cash program now will be comprised of Two Heats and a Main. Drivers who win two of the four Dash 4 Cash bonuses available also are all but guaranteed a spot in the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase.

In addition, the rugged NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races now will feature a Caution Clock, which will be triggered at the start of each green-flag run. When the green flag is displayed, 20 minutes will be placed on the clock. If/when the clock expires, a caution will be thrown.

“These innovations contain the elements of racing that our fans want the most,” said O’Donnell. “The enhancements put a premium on in-race strategy, and will create an unprecedented level of excitement as teams make tactical decisions that could impact their spot in the Chase.”

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DASH 4 CASH

The NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash will be comprised of Two Heats and a Main at four tracks: Bristol Motor Speedway (April 16), Richmond International Raceway (April 23), Dover International Speedway (May 14) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 23).

Qualifying for each Dash 4 Cash event will set the 40-car field and the starting positions for the Two Heats with the fastest qualifier awarded the Coors Light Pole Award. Odd-numbered qualifiers (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) will start in the first Heat in respective order, while even-numbered qualifiers (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) will start the second Heat in respective order.

The Two Heats will set the starting positions for the Main with the top two NASCAR XFINITY Series regulars in each Heat becoming eligible for the Dash 4 Cash bonus. The highest finishing driver among the four Dash 4 Cash eligible drivers will be awarded a $100,000 bonus. If any driver wins two of the four Dash 4 Cash bonuses available, he/she is all but guaranteed a spot in the 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase. In short, two Dash 4 Cash bonuses are equivalent to one race win in the new NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase format.

Drivers must have declared to earn NASCAR XFINITY Series points in order to be eligible for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash bonus.

Click HERE for details

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES CAUTION CLOCK

A Caution Clock will be utilized in each NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event (except for Eldora Speedway). The clock will be set to 20 minutes and triggered at the start of each green-flag run during race events. When the clock counts down to zero, a caution flag then will be displayed and no beneficiary will be awarded. A caution occurring before time expires resets the clock when the subsequent green flag is displayed and the first truck a lap down will be the beneficiary.

The caution clock will be turned off with 20 laps to go at all events in the series, with the exception of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Pocono Raceway, where the clock will be turned off with 10 laps remaining.

Click HERE for details

The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season will kick off with the 58th running of the Daytona 500® on Sunday, Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway®. The Great American Race® will be broadcast live on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, with additional coverage on NASCAR.com.

NASCAR IMC