NASCAR Sunoco Rookie of the Year

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Johnny Sauter Claims NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Title; William Byron Gets Record Seventh Win

Johnny Sauter won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with a third-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leaving race winner William Byron to consider what might have been.

As Byron and Tyler Reddick battled for the lead, Sauter passed Championship 4 contender Matt Crafton for third-place on lap 119 of 134 at the 1.5-mile track. Sauter then pulled away to claim the championship as Crafton faded to seventh in the closing laps.

Byron, the polesitter, claimed his rookie-record seventh victory of the season to salve the wound of last week at Phoenix, where a blown engine late in the final Round of 6 race knocked him out of the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase. Continue reading

Rookie Sensation Elliott Needs Win at Talladega

Photo - Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Photo – Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Positioned last on the Chase Grid, a hefty 25 points below the cutoff line in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott needs a win in the worst way.

The problem: He’s never visited Victory Lane in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

To advance in his quest for the championship, Elliott virtually must earn his first win in Sunday’s Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway at 2 pm  ET on NBCSN. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner finished fifth from the pole at the 2.66-mile behemoth in his lone start there in May. Although Elliott hasn’t won a race, he’s shown he’s a contender every week and had near misses in both Michigan races and at Pocono in June. Continue reading

PEAK Becomes Title Sponsor of NASCAR Mexico Series

Steve O’Donnell (NASCAR, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer) and Daniel Suarez (NASCAR XFINITY Series, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota with Joe Gibbs Racing) pose during the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series announcement at the InterContinental Presidente Hotel in Mexico City on October 18, 2016. Photo - Getty Images
Steve O’Donnell (NASCAR, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer) and Daniel Suarez (NASCAR XFINITY Series, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota with Joe Gibbs Racing) pose during the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series announcement at the InterContinental Presidente Hotel in Mexico City on October 18, 2016. Photo – Getty Images

NASCAR announced on Tuesday, a multi-year agreement with Old World Industries (OWI) to make PEAK title sponsor of the NASCAR Mexico Series, which will run a full slate of races in 2017 and ensuing seasons.

The NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series will kick off with an exhibition race on Dec. 3-4 in Mexico City. Its tenth season will begin in 2017 with a full championship schedule that will be announced at a later date. Continue reading

Jimmie Johnson Triumphs at Charlotte as Five Chase Drivers Fall on Hard Times

After Sunday’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson can proclaim justifiably ‘The Boys are Back in Town.’

But for five other Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, all of whom finished 30th or worse in the rain-delayed Bank of America 500, the race ended in a medley of dire straits.

Taking the lead from Matt Kenseth after a restart on lap 317 of 334, Johnson pulled away to win by 1.474 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Johnson put his No. 48 Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the third time this season, the eighth time at Charlotte – the third since the repaving of the track in March 2006 – and the 78th time in his career. Continue reading