Once a race track undergoes a reconfiguration or repave, NASCAR teams are usually invited to take part in a scheduled test of their equipment so they can learn how to adapt their car to the track changes well before competing in a race. But not always, especially when there’s a shortage of time and at Texas Motor Speedway, they know all about a time crunch. Continue reading
Honorary No. 22 Pit Crew Member – Tony LaRussa with driver Joey Logano at Phoenix International Raceway. Photo – Joey Logano Facebook page
There was a decided bounce in the step of 72-year-old Tony La Russa as he walked from the drivers’ meeting to the No. 22 Team Penske transporter parked in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage at Phoenix International Raceway.
The baseball Hall of Famer was in uniform, but not the sort of uniform you’d expect. On this Sunday, two weeks before opening day for Major League Baseball, the three-time World Series champion manager was decked out in the bright Shell/Pennzoil colors of Team Penske driver Joey Logano. Continue reading
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, leads Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, and Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 SunEnergy1 Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. Photo – Jared C Tilton/Getty Images
When it came to Chase Elliott’s performance in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was suffering from a severe lack of self-esteem.
After Sunday’s STP 500 at the 0.526-mile short track, Elliott will have to reevaluate. Continue reading
Aric Almirola, driver of the #43 STP Ford, races Erik Jones, driver of the #77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, and Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Okuma Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 2, 2017 in Martinsville, Virginia. Photo – Jared C Tilton/Getty Images
Ryan Newman’s victory at Phoenix Raceway, made possible by staying out on old tires, seemingly came out of nowhere. After all, no Richard Childress Racing driver had won an event in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2013 before Newman took the checkered flag at Phoenix.
But the speed in the RCR cars has improved, as both Austin Dillon and Newman proved in Sunday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Dillon came home fifth, his first top-five since running fourth at Bristol last August. Continue reading
In Sunday’s STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, everything worked – but nothing more than Brad Keselowski’s race-winning No. 2 Ford.
Yes, that’s right, a Ford. The car maker found Victory Lane at the 0.526-mile short track for the first time since Oct. 20, 2002, when Kurt Busch won at NASCAR’s oldest and smallest premier series track in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Continue reading