NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service

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Brian France Gives High Marks to Racing Product

Photo - Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

In a Sunday interview with FOX Sports, NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France described the current racing product as “markedly better.”

“I never give it a ‘10’ because we’re always a work in progress, but I think the racing (is) markedly better,” France said. “It’s our biggest challenge to balance the rules packages that offer the best style of racing for us, but we’re on our way.

“(There’s) a lot of cooperation with the teams like never before, putting a lot of emphasis on it, and we’re getting better results. We’re really happy with things.”

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Dramatic Last-Lap Pass Gives Tony Stewart Crucial Victory at Sonoma

Is Tony Stewart having fun yet?

In his last year of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Stewart came to Sonoma Racing asserting on Friday he wasn’t having much fun driving a Sprint Cup car.

That all changed in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the 1.99-mile road course, where Stewart bulldozed Denny Hamlin into the outside wall in Turn 11, executing a dramatic last-lap pass for his first victory since June 2, 2013 at Dover.

In the three years since that victory, a succession of injuries and a personal tragedy have limited the three-time champion’s time in a Sprint Cup car and limited Stewart’s effectiveness when he was behind the wheel of the No. 14 Chevrolet he co-owns with Gene Haas. Continue reading

Dominant Performance Leads Sam Hornish Jr to Victory at Iowa Speedway

Sam Hornish Jr., who hadn’t been in a car in 210 days, gave himself the perfect Father’s Day present on Sunday – a dominant victory in the sixth annual NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen at Iowa Speedway.

Hornish, who last competed in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race last November at Homestead-Miami Speedway, received a call Monday from Joe Gibbs Racing to substitute for injured driver Matt Tifft. He made the most of the opportunity, picking up his fourth career XFINITY Series win and second at Iowa. Overall, it was JGR’s ninth triumph in 14 races this season. Continue reading

William Byron Uses Late-Race Pass for Dramatic Win at Iowa

Following his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the season last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron used a late race restart and three-wide pass to charge from fourth to first to win Saturday night’s Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.

Byron, driving the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, swiped the lead from Cole Custer on a restart with nine laps remaining, but a caution six laps from the finish saw the Charlotte, North Carolina, native have to defend his presence at the front.

In a two-lap shootout, the 18-year-old Byron fended off challengers Custer and Cameron Hayley for a series-high third win in just his ninth Truck Series start. Continue reading