The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will return to action next weekend for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Teams will race 263 laps for 500 miles on Sunday, April 3rd. FOX Sports 1 will begin their pre-race show at 2 pm ET with the green flag at around 2:30 pm ET. Fans can also listen to the race on MRN or SiriusXM, channel 90.
Thrilling Competition Continues at Fontana with
Track-Record 51 Passes for the Lead
The high quality of racing produced in the first four races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season continued at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, where drivers tallied a total of 51 green flag passes for the lead, a high at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana since loop date began in 2005.
That marks the second time in the first five races this season for setting a new track record of green flag passes for the lead, as Atlanta had 44 green flag passes for the lead. Continue reading →
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s / Superman Chevrolet, races Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016 Photo – Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s / Superman Chevrolet, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016 Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s / Superman Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016 Photo – Jeff Gross/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s / Superman Chevrolet, celebrates after taking the checkered flag during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s / Superman Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 20, 2016 Photo – Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
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 →
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, leads Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Monster Energy / Haas Automation Chevrolet, during 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
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo – Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo – Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, poses with the winner’s decal on his car in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
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 →
Daytona Drama: Hamlin Wins Great American Race by Closest Margin in its History
Denny Hamlin provided viewers more drama in the closing moments of the Daytona 500 than fans have seen in the race’s history. Literally and statistically.
The No. 11 Toyota driver made a move from his fourth position with less than two laps remaining in Sunday’s Daytona 500, dove between Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., then beat Truex to the start/finish line by 0.010 seconds – the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the history of The Great American Race.
Hamlin’s MOV on Sunday also ranks tied for the seventh closest in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.
Don’t be surprised to see another tight finish in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Two of the top-ten closest finishes in NASCAR history are at the Georgia track. Continue reading →