Pocono Raceway. Definitely one of my favorite NASCAR tracks. Some fans reading this will think I am crazy, but I love the layout!

It’s known as the “Tricky Triangle”, a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond. The track has a unique design. Each turn is modeled after turns at three different tracks. Turn one has 14 degrees of banking and was modeled after the now shut down, Trenton Speedway. Turn two, also known as “The Tunnel Turn”, has 9 degrees of banking and is modeled after Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Turn 3, which has 6 degrees of banking, is similar to the Milwaukee Mile. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tony Stewart passed Juan Pablo Montoya with three laps remaining to win Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.

Stewart, who hadn’t won since the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona almost a year ago, benefited from NASCAR’s ruling on the final restart against Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson, who was going for his eighth victory at the 1-mile track, was penalized for jumping the restart with 19 laps to go, which set up the crazy finish.  Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)

A broken back hasn’t slowed down Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin, as he once again captured the Coors Light Pole for the second straight weekend. This time at Dover International Speedway in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks.

Hamlin turned a lap of 157.978 mph to win his third pole of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.  Martin Truex Jr. (157.798 mph) qualified second, followed by Kyle Busch (157.756 mph), Matt Kenseth (157.736 mph) and Ryan Newman (157.715 mph).

After the jump, you can see the complete starting lineup for the NASCAR race on Sunday afternoon.
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Matt Kenseth snatched the lead from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch with 13 laps to go and cruised to victory in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Saturday night. Busch, who dominated the NASCAR Nationwide race the night before, dominated the Sprint Cup race leading 265 laps, but he ended up in sixth.

Kenseth, won with interim crew chief Wally Brown, who stepped in while Jason Ratcliff served a one-race suspension from when the No. 20 failed post race inspection at Kansas Speedway last month.

“This is a dream come true,” Kenseth shouted on his radio. “Thank you guys very much.” Read the rest of this entry »

Credit: John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images

In a surprising victory, Joe Gibbs Racing won their appeal against NASCAR on Wednesday. JGR was able to convince a three member panel regarding their penalties for an illegal engine were too harsh.

The penalties come from the STP 400 from Kansas Speedway in which Kenseth and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team went on to victory. In case you forgot, NASCAR said the connecting rod was 2.7 grams too light, though the other seven rods in the engine were well over the minimum.

The three-member appeal panel consisted of Dover president Denis McGlynn, Stafford Motor Speedway track operate Mark Arute, and former team owner Jack Housby.  Read the rest of this entry »

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It was one of the wildest and craziest races in NASCAR history at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday as David Ragan was able to pull the upset.

Ragan got a huge push from his Front Row Motorsports teammate, David Gililand, to win the Aaron’s 499 that ended seven hours after it began.

Sunday afternoon’s victory is Ragan’s second Sprint Cup victory and came after a three-hour and 46 minute red flag for rain.

“This is a true David vs. Goliath moment,” said Ragan in victory lane. “This is special to get Front Row Motorsports their first win.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Last week at Kansas Speedway, we saw the race winner get stripped of everything but his STP 400 trophy. Will we see excitement of a different kind this weekend at Richmond International Raceway? This is after all the second night race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and tempers have been flaring since the last short track.

Richmond International Raceway, or RIR has it is known, is a 3/4-mile, D-shaped, asphalt track located just outside of Richmond, Virginia.

And since we have seen the last three qualifying sessions break track record, I guess I should point out that Brian Vickers holds the qualifying record of 20.722 seconds, 129.983 mph from 2004.

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NASCAR has reminded teams, drivers, and crews repeatedly DO NOT MESS WITH THE ENGINES and on Wednesday afternoon, showed everyone in NASCAR what happens when you do.

After winning the STP 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon, Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 car failed inspection at the NASCAR Research and Developmental Center after the race and the governing body dropped the hammer down on Kenseth, Joe Gibbs, and crew chief, Jason Ratcliff.

Credit: John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images

While Matt Kenseth may have changed teams, but he continues to own Kansas Speedway, even after the recent repave of the 1.5-mile track.

Kenseth took the lead from former teammate, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and held off Kasey Kahne to win his second race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season with Joe Gibbs Racings. The win was Kenseth’s 26th in his career and JGR’s 104th victory.

He became the third straight Sprint Cup winner to win from the pole, following Kyle Busch last week at Texas and Johnson the previous week at Martinsville.

“It’s a dream come true to drive this stuff,” said Kenseth. ”These guys are contenders; they’re an awesome race team. I’m glad to be wheeling this thing.” Read the rest of this entry »

Russell LaBounty/Autostock

Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans tuned into the Kyle Busch show as the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry not only won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night, but the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night. On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the newly paved Kansas Speedway.

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5 mile D-shaped tri-oval located in Kansas City, Kansas. The turns at Kansas Speedway are 17-20 degrees of banking, while the front stretch is 10.4-11 degrees, and the backstretch is 5 degrees of banking.

In this race last year, Denny Hamlin had his Toyota hooked up after the final pit stop, and was able to hold off a charging Martin Truex, Jr. to capture his second victory of the 2012 season. Hamlin is unable to defend his victory as he is still sitting out from his back injury  that he sustained in the last lap at Auto Club Speedway in March. Brian Vickers will be behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.  Read the rest of this entry »