For most of the final 200 laps of Sunday’s rain-interrupted Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick was where he needed to be – out front and in control of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Behind Harvick, who took the checkered flag 1.933 seconds ahead of runner-up Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the race was often out of control, as the essence of traditional Bristol made an emphatic appearance at the 0.533-mile concrete short track. Continue reading
Photo – Getty Images
Put the rumors to rest, 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick isn’t going anywhere.
Despite consistent chatter that Harvick was leaving Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of the 2016 Cup season, the team announced Thursday afternoon a long-term contract extension for Harvick to remain as the driver of the No. 4 car in a new multi-year agreement. The length of the contract was not specified.
The Bakersfield, California native joined SHR after a lengthy stint at Richard Childress Racing in 2014 and his impact with the organization was not influential but immediate. In his first season driving the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, Harvick scored eight poles, won five races and led a whopping 2,137 laps en route to his first Sprint Cup championship. Continue reading
The fastest driver doesn’t always win a race—or a championship—but on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick did both.
Driving a No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet that has been the class of the field for most of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Harvick won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and claimed his first premier series championship after a three-lap drag race against underdog title contender Ryan Newman. Continue reading
Troy Cupples, a crew member in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body’s Substance Abuse Policy.
On Aug. 11, Cupples was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 19 (violation of the NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy) of the 2014 NASCAR Rule Book.
The No. 4 team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has been penalized due to a rules infraction committed during the Aug. 10 race at Watkins Glen International.
The infraction is a P3 level penalty and is outlined in Section 12-4.3 of the 2014 rule book:
· A. Violation examples could include but are not limited to:
o 1(c): Unapproved added weight and/or weight affixed improperly (e.g. Unapproved added weight (size and material); unapproved added weight location, but not of a nature rising to a higher numbered penalty.
The infraction violates the following sections in the rule book:
· 12-1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing;
· 20-2.3: Added car weight
o A. Any weight added to the car must be bolted inside the body shell in an approved weight container and in a position acceptable to NASCAR officials
o Added weight must be in block form of not less than five pound blocks (no pellets) and painted white with the car number or team identification permanently legible on it.
As a result of this violation, crew chief Rodney Childers has been fined $25,000.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite, in action during NASCAR Testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on January 18, 2013
Photo – Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
So far, the 2013 season has produced two Sprint Cup Series races on two entirely different tracks and this weekend the teams are in Las Vegas, with yet another different type of track for the drivers. Daytona is a super speedway and Phoenix is considered a one-mile short track.
But the most widely raced track on the Sprint Cup circuit is the 1.5-mile intermediate track, and that’s what drivers will race for the first time this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with their new generation six cars. Although it’s not their first Gen6 test on a 1.5-mile track, Las Vegas does represent their first full race on an intermediate venue.
How important is the extra test time scheduled for Thursday?
“Without a doubt the 1.5, two-mile tracks can make your entire season. That test day is going to be huge,” said Steve Letarte, crew chief of the No. 88 driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished in the top-ten in every 1.5- and two-mile race he ran in 2012. “As a crew chief, you are trying to figure out what area you should be working in.”
Rodney Childers, who oversees the No. 55 Toyota that Mark Martin put on the pole a week ago at Phoenix, agrees.
“With it being an intermediate track and a place that’s really fast, the aero part becomes the biggest thing that you fight and I think everybody in the garage needs to learn a little bit [more] about this new car and where the splitter needs to be compared to the race track,” Childers said.
Although teams tested the Gen6 car in Charlotte, also a 1.5-mile track, in January, there are some differences presented to drivers for their test at Las Vegas. The most obvious difference being weather conditions. But there’s more for drivers to consider as well. Continue reading