By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Helio Castroneves’ bid for the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship took a beating two weekends ago on the mean streets of Houston, where his once-robust 49-point lead over Scott Dixon morphed into a deflating, 25-point deficit during the course of two races in less than 24 miserable hours.
But Helio has [...]

By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Kurt Busch and his enigmatic personality will be running full-bore – from farcical reincarnation of Ricky Bobby to staunch supporter of America’s wounded troops – during his final five starts with Furniture Row Racing.
It’s been NASCAR’s version of a shotgun marriage, one that has re-invented and re-branded driver and team.
“I [...]

By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – A NASCAR test scheduled for Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway will deal with various aerodynamic devices on Sprint Cup cars in an effort to find a configuration that will eliminate aero push, thus allowing for easier passing and side-by-side racing during an event.
Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president [...]

By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – Jeff Gordon was beaming when he strode into Charlotte Motor Speedway’s infield media center Thursday night after claiming his ninth pole at the 1.5-mile track in perhaps the most dramatic qualifying session this season.
The smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye seemed to say, [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – These are the Shake Out Days in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Three races down, seven to go. Too late in the playoffs to say that everybody still has a chance at the championship, too early to say with any certainty at all who [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Time was, Kansas Speedway was a Jeff Gordon track. In the best of those times, Gordon could not be beaten at Kansas. Literally.
But what remains of those days for the four-time Sprint Cup champion are some dusty trophies and perhaps a handful of old photos in [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Engines will turn a day early in advance of this week’s Sprint Cup race in hopes that the Sprint Cup cars will race better during Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Those engines will turn during a four-hour open test session scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The [...]

By Jonathan Ingram | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Top Ten Tweets from the first two weeks of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup:
1. Matt Kenseth is threatening to make the Chase boring by winning too much. (Poor guy still gets credit for creating the need for the Chase format after NOT winning enough in 2003 when the [...]

By Mike Harris | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
LOUDON, N.H. – When Matt Kenseth won the championship in NASCAR’s top series in 2003 he was criticized for running away with the title with consistent finishes that included only one victory.
That less-than-exciting championship run helped NASCAR decide it was time to change the way the Sprint Cup was [...]

By Mike Harris | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
LOUDON, N.H. – Jimmie Johnson’s mini-slump is over.
After finishing the NASCAR Sprint Cup regular season with four straight clunkers – 40, 36, 28, 40 – the five time series champion is back in the groove with a fifth-place finish in the opening event of the 10-race Chase for the championship.
Going [...]