Daily Archives: October 1, 2016

XFINITY Race Rainout Means Sunday Doubleheader at Dover

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DOVER, DE - OCTOBER 01: Cars are seen parked on pit road after the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive Sober 200 was postponed due to weather at Dover International Speedway on October 1, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

DOVER, DE – OCTOBER 01: Cars are seen parked on pit road after the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive Sober 200 was postponed due to weather at Dover International Speedway on October 1, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Rain forced postponement of Saturday’s Drive Sober 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway and put several Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers on the horns of a dilemma.

NASCAR will run a doubleheader on Sunday, with the XFINITY Series event rescheduled for 10 am ET (on CNBC), with the Citizen Soldier 400 Sprint Cup race, scheduled for 2 pm ET (NBCSN), to follow. Fans with tickets to either race will be admitted for both. Tickets are available at NASCAR.com/tickets. Continue reading →

Johnson Encouraged by Progress of Earnhardt’s Recovery

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Photo - Getty Images

Photo – Getty Images

Most race car drivers would rather wreck than watch someone else drive their cars.

From that perspective, Jimmie Johnson can understand why Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t been frequenting NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race tracks as he spends the rest of the season recovering from a concussion.

Yes, Earnhardt made a brief appearance at Watkins Glen in August, and he participated in a longer press conference at Darlington a month later. But Sunday will be the first time Earnhardt will stay for a Sprint Cup race. Continue reading →

In One Sense, the Pressure’s Off Chris Buescher at Dover

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DOVER, DE - SEPTEMBER 30: Chris Buescher, driver of the #34 CSX - Play it Safe Ford, speaks with the media prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Solider 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 30, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images

DOVER, DE – SEPTEMBER 30: Chris Buescher, driver of the #34 CSX – Play it Safe Ford, speaks with the media prior to practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Solider 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 30, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images

When racing pundits were making their Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup predictions at the start of the 2016 season, it’s doubtful that Chris Buescher made anyone’s top-16.

Nevertheless, Buescher defied the odds and qualified for the Chase on the strength of an unlikely victory in the rain-shortened Aug. 1 race at Pocono.

But the opening two events of the playoff didn’t go the way the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford would have liked. Buescher finished 28th at Chicagoland and 30th at New Hampshire to fall into last place in the Chase standings, 30 points below the cut line. Continue reading →

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series DC Solar 350 at Las Vegas Preview

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams will race 300 miles over 200 laps in the DC Solar 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 8:30 pm ET Saturday, October 1st. Television coverage is on FOX Sports 1 with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

What to Watch For: Every Chase driver except for William Byron competed in last year’s race at Las Vegas. The highest finishing Chaser was Timothy Peters (second), followed by Ben Kennedy (third), John Hunter Nemechek (fourth), Daniel Hemric (sixth), Matt Crafton (eighth) and Christopher Bell (14th).

Defending winner John Wes Townley tries to visit Victory Lane again on Saturday.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner and overall standings leader William Byron goes for his seventh win of the season. Continue reading →

NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive Sober 200 at Dover Preview

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NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will race 200 miles over 200 laps in the Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway on Saturday, October 1st at 3 pm ET. Television coverage is on NBC Sports Network with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

What to Watch For: Chase favorite Erik Jones tries to get back into the top-eight drivers in the standings. He currently sits three points behind Blake Koch on the cutoff line after a late wreck at Kentucky relegated him to 28th. Jones won at Dover in the spring.

Darrell Wallace Jr. finished runner-up at Dover in the spring and hopes to get his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series win. In four Dover starts, he’s registered two poles and an average finish of 10.5. .

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon and Matt DiBenedetto are scheduled to compete in Saturday’s race. Continue reading →