Daily Archives: November 5, 2016

Edwards Finds Bright Spot in Challenging Position

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Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Sport Clips Toyota, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo - Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Sport Clips Toyota, practices for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Count on Carl Edwards to find the silver lining in last Sunday’s hard crash at Martinsville.

The wreck left Edwards last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, 32 points behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in fourth place.

Realistically, Edwards must win either on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway or the following week at Phoenix to preserve a shot at the Sprint Cup championship. But Edwards found a source of optimism—namely the two tracks that chose out the Chase’s Round of 8. Continue reading →

Texas, the Next Stop on Kyle Busch’s Title Defense Tour

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Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Halloween Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. Photo - Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

No driver has swept a track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season.

Kyle Busch will attempt to become the first as he continues his championship defense in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway at 2 pm ET on NBC. Busch enters the race off a fifth-place finish in the Round of 8 opener at Martinsville last Sunday and is four points ahead of Joey Logano for the final advancement spot to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He visited Victory Lane in the April Texas race by speeding away from the field on a restart with 33 laps left to break Jimmie Johnson’s three-race wins streak at the 1.5-mile track. A win on Sunday would mean an automatic berth in the Championship 4, and a chance for a repeat championship. Continue reading →

Jones Hopes to Capture Championship 4 Berth at Texas

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rik Jones, driver of the #20 Reser's Main Street Bistro Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo - Jeff Curry/Getty Images

#rik Jones, driver of the #20 Reser’s Main Street Bistro Toyota, looks on prior to the NASCAR XFINITY Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 15, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. Photo – Jeff Curry/Getty Images

Texas Motor Speedway is the site of many memories for Erik Jones.

In 2014, he received his diploma on the driver introductions stage prior to the June NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the 1.5-mile track. Last season, he won his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Texas and took the checkered flag again when he returned for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in November.

Jones will try to make another Lone Star state memory by winning Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway at 3:30 pm ET on NBC. In three career NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at TMS, Jones has finished first (spring 2015), fourth (fall 2015) and second (spring 2016). Continue reading →