On Friday night in Las Vegas, the usual suspects will be in their usual places on dais at the Sprint Cup Awards banquet. Well, most of the usual suspects.
Seated in the audience this year will be Denny Hamlin, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who has been a Chase berth-earner every year since 2007 and a [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR has always billed itself as a family oriented sport and seven-time champion Richard Petty said the 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame class announced Wednesday reinforces that sentiment.
Petty’s younger brother, Maurice, and Ned Jarrett’s younger son, Dale, were among the five selected by a voting panel that [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The bright lights never find some auto racers. The media scrums that search out the pretty boys – the drivers with the big names and high paying endorsement deals – run away from, not to this group. Despite critically important contributions to their sport, some racers in [...]
By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Pre-race story lines for the Sunday’s 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 fittingly will be dominated by the possibility of either IZOD IndyCar Series superstars Helio Castroneves or Dario Franchitti becoming the event’s fourth four-time winner.
Both popular drivers are bidding to join A.J. Foyt Jr., Al Unser and Rick Mears [...]
By Jim Pedley | Managing Editor
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Rusty Wallace likes to talk. And when he gets going, he can say a lot of things in a short amount of time. Separating the nut from the shell takes a good ear when listening to Rusty go.
It was during one of those go-times 10 years ago, [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With very few exceptions, loyalty in NASCAR disappeared with the arrival of the 21st Century. Therefore, when one sees the loyalty that still exists for Alan Kulwicki from his 1992 championship crew, it is heart-warming.
Twenty years after losing their mentor, their leader, in a plane crash near [...]
By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
AUSTIN, Texas – Jamie Whincup went 3 for 4 at Circuit of The Americas during the inaugural Texas 400 weekend, and the Australian V8 Supercars Championship superstar wasn’t too proud to admit that he was about chicken-fried.
“Crazy, crazy hot out there,” Whincup said after winning the fourth/final 27-lap sprint around [...]
Johnny Gray raced to his third victory of the season Sunday and moved back into the Funny Car points lead at the 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals.
Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel) and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) also were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event. All three winners were [...]
By Deb Williams | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
CONCORD, N.C. – Entering Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson wasn’t sure about his chances in the event due to an 18th-place qualifying run, but when the checkered flag waved the California native had once again rewritten a page in the NASCAR record book.
With an [...]
Ed Carpenter, the lone team owner/driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series recorded a blistering four-lap average speed of 228.762 mph (best lap of 229.347 mph; 39.2418 seconds) in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka car to win the pole for the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
The one-car team bested the best of Team Penske and Andretti [...]
By John Sturbin | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
AUSTIN, Texas – It was Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes all Saturday long at Circuit of The Americas, mate, as the Red Bull Racing Australia drivers swept both ends of the Texas 400 doubleheader marking the historic North American debut of the Australian V8 Supercars Championship.
Whincup, who started second in [...]