Johnson Powers Past Harvick for Sprint Cup Win at Fontana

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Jimmie Johnson won the battle between hometown heroes on Sunday, outdueling Kevin Harvick in overtime at Auto Club Speedway

“Awesome teamwork, boys!” Johnson shouted on his radio after taking the 77th checkered flag of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time victory list. “There’s nothing like winning at home.”

The six-time series champion from El Cajon got the chance he needed when Kyle Busch blew a tire and hit the turn three wall on lap 198 of a scheduled 200 to cause the sixth and last caution of the afternoon. With the race destined for overtime, the lead-lap cars came to pit road for new tires, with Denny Hamlin leading Harvick and Johnson back on to the track. Continue reading

Edwards and Harvick have Fun Racing to the Good Sam 500 Checkered Flag

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John's Chevrolet, beats Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Stanley Toyota, to the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo - Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, beats Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Stanley Toyota, to the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Just four races into the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season, NASCAR’s new low downforce and Goodyear’s soft tires are giving drivers and fans two close finishes – Daytona and Phoenix – and setting track records along the way. That makes the rest of the season seem much more intriguing with 22 more races until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins in September.

Although Carl Edwards came within inches and just 0.010 seconds short of his first Sprint Cup win of the season, he made it clear in his post race comments that he was having fun racing Kevin Harvick to the Good Sam 500 checkered flag at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday afternoon – the closest finish ever at that track.  Continue reading

Harvick Holds Off Edwards at Phoenix—by a Matter of Inches

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In recent years, Kevin Harvick has exercised his dominance at Phoenix International Raceway by crushing the competition.

In Sunday’s Good Sam 500 at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, he maintained his mastery by a matter of inches, banging fenders with Carl Edwards in a side-by side overtime battle on the way to the finish line.

After the drivers traded shots on the way to the stripe, Harvick pulled ahead to win the fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season by 0.010 seconds (roughly four inches), the identical margin by which Denny Hamlin had beaten Martin Truex Jr. in the season-opening Daytona 500. Continue reading

#NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Preview

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Kobalt 400

The Place: Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Date: Sunday, March 6

The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90

Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps)

 

NASCAR Goes West

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicks off its three-race NASCAR Goes West trip with Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following its trip to Vegas, the Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway before closing its West Coast road trip at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Kevin Harvick, from Bakersfield, California, dominated last season’s edition of NASCAR Goes West, winning the first two races (Las Vegas and Phoenix) and finishing second in the last contest at Auto Club. Continue reading

Johnson Wins at Atlanta, Ties Earnhardt Sr with 76th Victory

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With wrecks erupting behind him, Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag in overtime under caution in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway—and then he remembered.

Almost lost in the euphoria of Johnson’s second straight victory at the 1.54-mile track was the realization that, with his 76th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, he had tied the late Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time wins list.

But as the No. 48 Chevrolet rolled around the track on its victory lap, heading in a clockwise direction à la Alan Kulwicki, the six-time champion thrust his arm out the driver’s side window with a three-finger salute to the crowd, acknowledging the bond he now shares with The Intimidator. Continue reading