Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 21, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams return to action next weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500, Sunday, September 6th with the NBC broadcast at 7 pm ET. They’ll race 501.3 miles for 367 laps as several drivers compete to put their team in the best possible position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
In the meantime, here are some Sprint Cup Series news and notes for this week.
Logano Wins Bristol Night Race for Second Straight Year
The No. 22 Team Penske driver successfully defended his August 2014 Bristol Motor Speedway win, leading 176 laps on his way to Victory Lane in Saturday’s IRWIN Tools Night Race at ‘The Last Great Colosseum.’ Continue reading →
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Gregoray Shamus/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Successfully defending last year’s victory at Thunder Valley, Logano won his third race of the season, his second at the .533-mile short track and the 11th of his career.
Harvick recovered from two pit road speeding penalties to finish second, a mere 0.220 seconds behind Logano. Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, and Clint Bowyer got a much-needed fourth place result in his No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. Continue reading →
Matt Kenseth is showing the speed of bona fide Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship contender.
The No. 20 Toyota driver notched his second win in the last three races after visiting Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway. On Kenseth’s way to the win – he led 146 of 200 laps – the most led on a track longer than a mile since Jimmie Johnson paced the field for 255 go-arounds at Texas on November 3, 2013. Kenseth’s three victories are the third-most in the Sprint Cup Series. He has nine bonus points for the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (one for each win) and ranks third on the Chase Grid. Continue reading →
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #29 Cooper Standard Ford, leads the field during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #29 Cooper Standard Ford, takes the checkered flag as he wins the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #29 Cooper Standard Ford, does a burn out after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #29 Cooper Standard Ford, does a burn out after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #29 Coopers Standard Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 race, at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 19, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
A spin with four laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway proved as a saving grace for Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Blaney, who grabbed the lead on a green-white-checkered restart to win his first race of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.
Blaney recovered from an early race penalty for jumping a restart to find himself closing on leader Matt Crafton with five laps remaining. When Ty Dillon spun on lap 196, it triggered the last caution of the night and the opportunity for Blaney to steal Crafton’s thunder. On the last restart, Crafton’s truck sputtered, failing to come up to speed, allowing Blaney to take off and seal his fourth career Camping World Truck Series victory. Continue reading →
