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Total Sports Blog takes our preview focus to Michael Waltrip Racing today. The organization the finished 2nd in points during the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Sprint Cup.

This season the team will field three entries, including the No. 15 of Clint Bowyer, the No. 56 of Martin Truex, Jr, and the No. 55 that will feature a combination of drivers including Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, and team owner, Michael Waltrip. Read the rest of this entry »

38 races, if you include the Budweiser Shootout and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race.

It’s been an up and down year for many in this elite driving series.  This 2012 season provided some moments that surprised, shocked, and even created some NASCAR history.  From the Daytona 500 that raced in primetime on Monday to the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Sprint Cup boys definitely provided the fans with some memorable moments.

Here are some of the moments and races that I definitely will remember for years to come:

A jet dryer bursts into flames after being hit by Juan Pablo Montoya.
(Photo from: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images)

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Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR

36 races. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is in the books. NASCAR has crowned a new champion and for the first time in 7 years, the champions name isn’t Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson.

On Sunday evening it was Brad Keselowski who hoisted the Sprint Cup after finishing fifteenth in the Ford EcoBoost 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway beating Jimmie Johnson, who ended up finishing the season in third place, by 40 points. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 11, 2012 in Avondale, Arizona.

35 races and it comes down to the final race this Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Baring any craziness on the track, it looks like Brad Keselowski will be the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ.

Speaking of craziness, NASCAR fans definitely saw an interesting race on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Kyle Busch dominated but didn’t win, Jimmie Johsnon crashed, more on this later, and two Chase drivers crews fought. In the end, it was another chase driver, Kevin Harvick who quietly went about the business of winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in over a year. With the victory on Sunday, Harvick gained three spots in the Chase standings and is now in eighth place, just 86 points out of first.

“We want to win races, and we want to be competitive, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Harvick said.

In this weekly segment, Total Sports Blog, will rewind the race from the day before and let you know where all the Chase contenders finished and where they are in the point standings. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: Tyler Barrick/Getty Images
Police break up fights in the garage area after an on-track incident with Clint Bowyer (not pictured), driver of the #15 5-hour Energy Toyota, and Jeff Gordon (not pictured), driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 11, 2012 in Avondale, Arizona.

What a crazy Sunday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway. NASCAR fans saw Kyle Busch dominate the race but not capture the checkered flag, Jimmie Johnson crash and possibly lose the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, and saw Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer’s crews fight. If you weren’t a fan of the series prior to Sunday’s race, something tells me that you are now.

On Monday afternoon, NASCAR handed out fines and penalties from the race.

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 car, was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) – altercation with another competitor on the race track during the race – and has been fined $100,000, docked 25 championship driver points and put on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 24 car, has also been penalized with the loss of 25 championship owner points. Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 24 car, also was found to be in violation of Section 9-4A (at all events, crew chief assumes responsibility of his driver, car owner and team members) and has been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR
Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 11, 2012 in Avondale, Arizona.

Kyle Busch dominated. Jimmie Johnson crashed after cutting a tire handing Brad Keselowski 20 point lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup heading into the final race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, that’s not what everyone in the NASCAR world is talking about on Sunday night.

Sure Kevin Harvick broke his 44-race winless streak dating back to Richmond on September 10, 2011 and giving Richard Childress Racing their first win of the 2012 season, it was the brawl between Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer’s team that will be the talk of the watercooler on Monday morning.

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Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 4, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas.

34 races down. 2 to go.

With the way Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson have been competing, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series may not be decided until the final lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson showed the NASCAR world that he is ready to edge his name in the record book as he won his fifth race of the season, and the second in just a week, at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson led 168 of the 334 scheduled laps to increase his points lead to seven points ahead of Brad Keselowski. This is the biggest points deficit Keselowski has faced since entering the chase. Aside from the points battle, the two drivers also battled on the track with eight laps to go, Keselowski’s Dodge made contact with Johnson’s Chevrolet battling for the lead. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
Jimmie Johnson celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 28, 2012 in Ridgeway, Virginia.

Three races to go until NASCAR crowns a champion. It’s all come down to the driver from Rochester Hills, Michigan or the five-time champion from El Cajon, California, and with the way both drivers have been competing in this 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup we may not know until the final lap in Homestead-Miami.

On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson proved he is ready for another championship as he won his fourth race of the season at Martinsville Speedway. Johnson led 193 laps to become the points leader, just two points ahead of second place, Brad Keselowski. This was also the first race back for Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who missed the last two weeks after suffering a concussion at Talladega Speedway earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images
Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Zest Ford, celebrates with his wife Katie and their family in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 21, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas.

Six races down. Four to go. In just a few weeks NASCAR will crown a new Sprint Cup Series champ. Seems just the other day we were all counting down the days until the Daytona 500. This season has sure flown by.

On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series made a stop at the newly paved Kansas Speedway. The winner was Matt Kenseth, who beat the second place finisher, by 0.495 seconds amidst a record-breaking 14 cautions. The win was Kenseth’s third of the season and second in three weeks. Kenseth, who will be leaving Roush-Fenway Racing at season’s end, definitely isn’t a lame duck in the Chase. Like much of the finishers, Kenseth definitely had a bumps and bruises on his No. 17 Zest Ford Fusion.  Kenseth brushed the wall after Aric Almirola spun off turn two, trying to pass Mark Martin.

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Clint Bowyer celebrates with team owner Michael Waltrip after Bowyer won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)

We are halfway in the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup. In just five weeks, we will crown a new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Will it be the driver from Michigan or will Jimmie Johnson win his sixth championship?

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stayed in their own backyard, Charlotte Motor Speedway, this weekend for some Saturday night racing. While it was the points leader, Brad Keselowski, who dominated much of the race, in the end it was Clint Bowyer who made it to victory lane. Bowyer had to have his Toyota pushed to victory lane after running out of gas. Read the rest of this entry »