With a visit to Victory Lane in Sunday’s Daytona 500, Joey Logano would become only the fourth driver to win The Great American Race in consecutive seasons. The three drivers who have taken the checkered flag in the Daytona 500 two years in a row are Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95). Continue reading →
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, celebrates winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, poses in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
yle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s 75 Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s 75 Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Retaking the lead with five laps left in the first of Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel 150-mile qualifying races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. cruised to a dominating victory and grabbed the third staring spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
In the second Duel, reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch took the checkered flag under caution after a wild last-lap wreck took out the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, AJ Allmendinger and Danica Patrick and damaged the No. 41 Chevrolet of Kurt Busch.
Kenseth will go to a backup car and start from the rear in the Daytona 500, surrendering the second starting spot he earned during last Sunday’s time trials. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 AXALTA Chevrolet, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, celebrates winning the series championship and the race with a burnout after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, celebrates winning the series championship and the race with his team after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, celebrates with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the series championship and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota, celebrates winning the series championship and the race in Victory Lane after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Finishing off one of the most remarkable comebacks in NASCAR history—indeed, in the annals of sport—Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and, with it, his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Absent from the first 11 races of the season because of a broken right leg and left foot sustained in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona in February, Busch pulled away from fellow Championship Round driver Kevin Harvick after a restart with seven laps left and crossed the finish line 1.553 seconds ahead of the defending series champion. Continue reading →
(L-R) Team owner Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
(L-R) Team owner Rick Hendrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
(L-R) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and crew chief Greg Ives celebrate in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
(L-R) Amy Reimann celebrates with Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, in victory lane after Earnhardt won the rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 15, 2015 Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
A serendipitous sequence of pit stops and a drizzle that turned into a downpour made a winner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday night’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, with a delayed start moving the race from daytime to under the lights by rain in the afternoon.
But again, halting the race due to rain 93 laps short of its scheduled distance of 312 laps was hardly the satisfying conclusion Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch or Joey Logano had hoped for.
Eliminating those four drivers from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was disappointing, while defending champion Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. joined Jeff Gordon in next Sunday’s Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Continue reading →
