Year: 2014

Martinsville Speedway! Clouds threatened but practices went on and qualifying was run for the STP 500! Kyle Busch grabbed the pole for the race this Sunday. Oddly enough it was Joey Logano who turned the fastest lap but could not follow it up in the second session of qualifying at Martinsville for the Alpha Energy Solutions Pole Day.
The top 10 starting order for the STP 500 is:
Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray and…. (more…)

So maybe, as Spring racing brings NASCAR to Martinsville, you just don’t dig on the big and the loud and the crowd and the repeated left turns of national stock car racing. Maybe you like racing but want something a bit different…

It doesn’t get much more different than Chump Car Racing. It is colorful. It is fun. It is full of left turns AND right turns. There is variety. There are trees. (more…)

Yes, Bristol has run and done. Technically Tennessee yet many Virginians call it one of their own. Richmond and Martinsville are, straight up, Virginia racing.

Richmond comes up in late April. Mark it.

Martinsville is next up and riding a big wave of racing to bring it home. Dale Jr. gave us a win at Daytona. Harvick has a new team win. Keselowski, Edwards and Kyle Busch have wins. Denny Hamlin had some pre-season success. All the manufacturers have had victories.

New teams, new numbers and the return of the iconic #3 have made marks on the NASCAR season and the whole show is coming to Martinsville.

Do I sound excited? Well, yes… Martinsville is just down the road. If I close my eyes I can smell the steam from the hot dogs. (more…)

It was a Toyota day in California for the Auto Club 400.

More or less…

A Toyota started on the pole with Matt Kenseth in the Dollar General #20. A Toyota won it with Kyle Busch in the Interstate Batteries #18.

Between these Toyota landmarks were 27 lead changes and 9 cautions. The final laps saw the caution that set in motion a green-white-checkered finish which also played out in the critical lead change.

It was Jimmie Johnson’s race to loose with a comfortable lead over team mate Jeff Gordon. Johnson’s tires, however, did not have the will to go on and the left front shredded under pressure. He managed to keep the #48 in a straight line and limped to the pits. (more…)

The late season race at Bristol is under the lights. The early race is supposed to be under the sun. There was no sun. Weather bounced Bristol with rain and was just south of snow which threatened much of Virginia. As the field rolled off the start it was delayed by 2 hours. At lap 117 the race was red-flagged for another 3 hours as rain came through again. The Food City 500 was eventually restarted and finished under the lights.

Rain is rain and racing at Bristol is racing at Bristol. The weather only changed the time. The lead changes, fender bangs and wall hits were all in the mix to shake the points. In the end it was Brad Keselowski packing up with the points lead despite a 14th place finish and the lack of a hood. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 10 spots behind Keselowski which allowed the flip in the one-two points positions. (more…)

The season seems to be cranking up for the Ford badge. The Penske Racing Ford badge, specifically.

Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have traded off starting positions in the front row, finished in the top 5 and have put one of their Fords into Victory Lane.

The previous week at Phoenix, Keselowski was on the pole with Logano on his wheel. This week at Vegas Logano was on the pole with Keselowski on the wheel. Both finished in the top for both of these races with BK taking the win in the most recent Kobalt Tools 400.

It should also be noted Keselowski finished 3rd at the Daytona opener while Logano was just outside of the top 10 at 11th. The season has opened well for the Penske Fords with Keselowski off to a quick points chase showing, perhaps, that his 2012 championship has the possibility of a repeat. (more…)

Kevin Harvick switched teams from a long run with Richard Childress Racing to a new seat at Stewart-Haas for 2014. He brought Budweiser with him to wrap the new #4 Chevrolet. At the season opening Daytona 500 he took the best finish of the rest of the Stewart-Haas group of drivers with 13th place, driving up from starting 38th.

The second race of the season offered the same result as Harvick again finished in front of his team mates but this time the finish was also the win. It’s race two of the season and, for points, the second race for Harvick in the #4.

…And he has already snagged a win.

Whatever time many may take to adapt to new surroundings Harvick seems to have skipped over. At Phoenix the #4 was fast enough through practice and qualifying to put it, and Harvick, on the board as the one to beat. He took it to the track and came off with the win of the Profit Of CNBC 500. (more…)