CONCORD, N.C. – In a way, the first-ever Memorial Day weekend 600-mile NASCAR race got off to a shotgun start back in 1960 as heavily-armed Charlotte Motor Speedway founders Bruton Smith, Curtis Turner, Turner’s brother Darnell and driver Bob Welborn confronted an obstinate contractor and his crew to persuade them to stop delaying the track [...]

CONCORD, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing’s Saturday announcement that Trevor Bayne will compete fulltime next year in the Sprint Cup Series provides only a small glimpse into the team’s 2015 driver lineup.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. returns to the Roush Fenway operation, but Greg Biffle’s and Carl Edwards’ plans for next year have yet to be finalized. [...]

RacinToday.com
Kyle Larson got his second NASCAR Nationwide Series win of the season on Saturday when he won the History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
In fact, he dominated the second half of the event to get that win.
Larson passed fellow Sprint Cup regular Brad Keselowski on Lap 118 of 200 and stayed out front the rest [...]

By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – Jeff Gordon bypassed Saturday’s final practice session for the Coca-Cola 600 due to back spasms and said Regan Smith would be standing by Sunday in case he needed relief during NASCAR’s
longest race.
“Unfortunately, I had a back spasm the other night [Thursday] in that last qualifying run that [...]

CONCORD, N.C. – Twenty years ago, 22-year-old upstart Jeff Gordon and his Ray Evernham-led Hendrick Motorsports team drove into Coca-Cola 600 history by outsmarting the 1989 series champion on the competitors’ final stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Rusty Wallace’s Penske Racing crew changed four tires, which was the accepted practice at the time, while Gordon’s Chevrolet [...]

By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – Trevor Bayne will move to NASCAR Sprint Cup racing fulltime in 2015, driving the No. 6 Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing, Jack Roush announced Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Advocare, who is sponsoring Bayne in the Nationwide Series this year, will move to the Sprint Cup level [...]

CONCORD, N.C. – Guess some teams still have some minor tweaking to do in their approaches to the new Knockout Qualifying thing. In the case of the teams of Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth, maybe some major tweaks.
Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team and Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing team both advanced into the third and final round [...]

By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a nine-month period in the mid-1980s, Bill Elliott skyrocketed from a relatively unknown north Georgia race car driver to international stardom.
With a potent Ford Thunderbird, Elliott and his older brothers, Ernie and Dan, turned NASCAR Cup racing upside down with their victories and record pole runs. [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – Jimmie Johnson started his bid to win Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race by winning the pole on Thursday evening.
Johnson had a pole winning speed of 194.911 miles per hour in the final of three rounds of knockout qualifying to bag the pole.
It was the first [...]

By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – When Kurt Busch squeezes into his Indy car on Sunday to compete in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, he will not squeeze in alone. With him will be a NASCAR garage full of drivers and team members.
That became evident Thursday when the garages opened for business at Charlotte [...]