On Thursday morning, Jeff Gordon announced to his Hendrick Motorsports team that 2015 would be the last year that he competed full time in the Sprint Cup Series.
Thursday afternoon, the 43-year-old driver held a teleconference with the media to explain his decision and to take question about it.
Gordon, a four-time Cup champion and the winner [...]
FEATURE STORY, NASCAR - Sprint Cup Series »
Gordon To Hand Seat Over To Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott will drive full time in Cup in 2016. (RacinToday/HHP file photo by Tom Copeland)
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Exit Jeff Gordon. Enter Chase Elliott.
On Thursday, one week after Gordon announced 2015 would be his final full-time season in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, team owner Rick Hendrick made it official that Elliott would be the four-time champion’s successor. The announcement surprised no one. After all, Hendrick had signed Elliott when he was 15 years old and many 
believed then he was being groomed for this day.
Hendrick said during the final event on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour that wasn’t the case; that he never wanted to think about Gordon retiring. That day, however, was inevitable. Gordon, now 43, wants to spend more time with his children and then there’s that nagging back problem. He thought about stepping out of the car in 2012 when his performance was sub-par, but each time Hendrick talked him into continuing. Last year, however, in the middle of a season when his performance was reminiscent of the 1990s, Gordon told Hendrick it was time. This time, there was no changing his mind.
Gordon was only 21 years old when he drove his first race in the No. 24. It was the season finale of the 1992 Read the full story »
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR Hall of Famer and three-time champion David Pearson is recovering from a mild stroke he suffered Dec. 9 and a full recovery is expected, his family said Wednesday in a statement released by NASCAR during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour.
“The stroke affected his left side [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
After this year’s Roush Fenway Racing drivers were seated on stage for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom’s opening event Wednesday, it became evident there was a different atmosphere among the competitors than had existed at the organization in previous years.
At past media tours, the organization’s drivers [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – At the end of each season in three of the last four years Greg Biffle has watched teammates exit Roush Fenway Racing; two moved to another organization while one had his sponsor withdraw from the sport.
It was a scenario that made the 45-year-old Biffle wonder if he [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Nearly two months after Brian Vickers once again found himself in open heart surgery, the Michael Waltrip Racing driver is focused on his return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. However, the 31-year-old driver admitted Tuesday the scenario could have been much different.
“It was a pretty traumatic [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Touting NASCAR’s march towards innovation while balancing that with the cost and the benefits to the individual teams and to the sport, NASCAR Chairman Brian France said the rules for the cars would always evolve, but there would be no change this year to the Chase format.
“It [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Scott Dixon tracked down and passed Jordan Taylor with just over and hour to go and went on to win the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday.
Dixon, driving the No. 02 Ford-powered Riley of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, took the checkered flag at the end [...]
RacinToday.com
When dawn broke at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, it was a battle between Chevrolet and Ford power that was the big story in the Rolex 24.
At the 18-hour mark of the race, which came just after 8 a.m., the Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototypes of Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing were running first and [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
At least SpeedSource Racing and its factory-backed Mazda turbo diesel prototypes didn’t let anybody down in last year’s Rolex 24. Not really. Not even when its two cars failed to finish. The Lola-based P2 cars, with their SKYACTIV technology, were new, they were complicated, they were not battle tested and [...]
RacinToday.com
Vic Elford, who earned the title of “Porsche hero” during his five-year racing tenure with the German marque, is the 2015 recipient of the Phil Hill Award presented by the Road Racing Drivers Club.
Named in honor of America’s first Formula One World Driving Champion (1961), the Phil Hill Award has been presented annually since 1993 [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
Oswaldo Negri on Thursday put Michael Shank Racing’s Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 car on the pole for the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Negri, who will co-drive with John Pew, Matt McMurry and A.J. Allmendinger in the race on Saturday/Sunday, won the pole with a lap 1:39.19.
Chip Ganassi Racing Daytona [...]