NASCAR’s era of big changes has faced high levels of criticism from the paying customers. But there is one change that was made for the 2014 season that some say just might be capable of cross-generational appeal.
It’s a tweaking of the points format and it was aimed squarely at a major area of discontent among [...]
FEATURE STORY, NASCAR - Sprint Cup Series »
Keselowski Uses Late Pass To Win In Las Vegas
Brad Keselowski blew past the fuel-depleted Chevy of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the last lap and went on to win his first race of the year. (RacinToday/HHP photo by Harold Hinson)
RacinToday.com
Brad Keselowski passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. – who ran out of fuel – out of the final turn to win Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt coasted to a second-place finish.
“We took a gamble,” Earnhardt said of his fuel strategy. “But tough losing like that.”
Paul Menard finished third and Joey Logano was fourth.
Carl Edwards finished fifth and Jimmie Johnson sixth.
The Cup victory was the first for Team Penske’s Keselowski at Vegas but it was his second of the weekend as he won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.
The victory also gave Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, his third top-three finish in as many races this season.
“Yeah, passing the 99 was a huge moment for us,” Keselowski said. “That gave us an opportunity to really put pressure on Dale. I felt like we could run him down. I could tell he was saving a little bit based on the lines he was running compared to where I had seen him earlier in the day, so he was able to save a little bit but once I ran up on him with him not running his fastest line, he was running his fuel-conserve line – once I saw that, we ran him down in I think 10-15 laps, whatever that was, and forced him to get up into his speed line and that was just taking fuel from his car. Once that happened, I knew we were in really good shape.”
Finishing second gave Earnhardt Jr. his third straight podium and second straight runner-up finish. Earnhardt won the season-opening Daytona 500.
“We have got a good thing going, we’ve got to be positive,” he said. W”e’ve got to keep trying to win races. I Read the full story »
NASCAR’s era of big changes has faced high levels of criticism from the paying customers. But there is one change that was made for the 2014 season that some say just might be capable of cross-generational appeal.
It’s a tweaking of the points format and it was aimed squarely at a major area of discontent among [...]
RacinToday.com
West Texas native Morgan Bagley rewarded a chilled cheering section of family and friends by driving to his first career SUPR Late Model win during the Port-A-Cool Texas World Dirt Track Championship Saturday night in Fort Worth.
Bagley, of Longview, was the 2011 SUPR Series champion but since has been racing in the World of Outlaws [...]
RacinToday.com
Brad Keselowski held off Kyle Busch to win Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski’s first win of the season, his first at LVMS and the 28th of his career left Busch, a Las Vegas native, frustrated in his 11th futile attempt to win a Nationwide Series race on home turf. Busch [...]
By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
INDYCAR fell into lockstep with the gimmick-it-up-for-TV crowd of sanctioning bodies Friday, unveiling a new qualifying format to set the 33-car starting field for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Qualifying will feature three sessions of time trials over two days, with the expressed intent of “increasing entertainment value, fan [...]
For the second week in a row, Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski will start the Sprint Cup Series race from the front row.
Logano will start from the pole in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Next to him on the grid will be Keselowski, the pole-winner a week ago [...]
By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
A self-described “old-school racer,” Kurt Busch will attempt to become only the fourth driver to compete in IndyCar’s historic Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s 600-mile marathon in the same day over Memorial Day Weekend in May.
Busch, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion in 2004, will team with Andretti Autosport in a [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
An extra day of practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday may have resulted in an extra day of discovery for some Sprint Cup drivers, but for Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing, the test produced an extra day of frustration.
The first question directed at him in a post-session [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
It’s always been tough to slot Kevin Harvick during discussions about driving talent. By the end of the 2014 Sprint Cup season – 2015 at the latest – that process will become easier.
Right now, albeit just a week into the current season, there is growing evidence that Harvick’s place in [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Kevin Harvick, fast all week in practices, was fast on race day as well as he notched a dominating win in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
The win was Harvick’s fifth in a Cup race at PIR and first overall since leaving Richard Childress Racing at the [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
When it comes to racing machinery, there are very few inconsequential changes. Virtually all have the ability to produce or reduce speed – and, hence, finishing positions in races – depending on how teams and drivers deal with the changes.
For that reason, today’s Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International [...]