Credit: Will Schneekloth/Getty Images

With a late tire-issue for Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle cruised to his second Michigan win in a row and the first victory of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season on Sunday afternoon.

Biffle’s win was also Ford Racing’s 1,000th victory across NASCAR’s three national series.

“I love it when the 48 crashes trying to catch me. Love it,” Biffle exclaimed over the radio after crossing the finish line.

Biffle would later explain his comment saying “I don’t want to see anybody wreck; I should have said make a mistake. And that’s truly what he did is he made a mistake.”

Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

It was also a tough day for Hendrick Motorsports as Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon all had issues.  Read the rest of this entry »

Father’s Day and Michigan International Speedway have become a NASCAR tradition.

Michigan International Speedway, or MIS, is a 2-mile moderate-banked D shaped speedway located in the “Irish Hills” of Brooklyn, Michigan. It is sometimes known as the sister track to Texas Motor Speedway. MIS is currently the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 195 mph and corner entry speeds can be anywhere from 215 to 220mph after the repaving in 2012. The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at MIS was held of June 15, 1969 and was won by Cale Yarborough at a speed of 139.254mph. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff Zelevansky for Getty Images

You know how they say never to wake a sleeping bear? The same can be said not to rile up Jimmie Johnson.

A week after a penalty for jumping the restart at Dover knocked Johnson out of the victory, Johnson bounced back and dominated the 43 car field in Sunday afternoon’s Party in the Poconos 400.

He started from the pole due to rain and led 128 of the 160 laps to capture his 63rd victory and third at the 2.5-mile asphalt track. Johnson beat Greg Biffle to the finish line by 1.208 seconds. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman round out the top five.

“Jimmie was in a league of his own,” said Biffle.

When asked in Gatorade Victory Lane if this win made up for Dover last weekend, Johnson responded “No, it doesn’t make up for much, but we know we’re a great race team.”  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 »

Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Matt Kenseth captured his first Coors Light Pole Award at Joe Gibbs Racing, but it took knocking off his former Roush-Fenway Racing teammate to do it.

Kenseth’s lap of 191.864 mph, 28.145 seconds in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session set a new qualifying record at the 1.5-mile track. This is the first consecutive week that a new track record has been set during qualifying. Something NASCAR thought would happen with the Gen 6 car.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who know drives Kenseth’s RFR car, will start third; while Sam Hornish, Jr. and Kyle Busch round out the top five.

Jeff Gordon crashed before completing his first qualifying lap, destroying the front and rear ends of his racecar after hitting the wall hard in Turn 2. Gordon will go to a backup car and will start from the rear of the field Sunday.

The STP 400 will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX. Pre-race coverage starts at 12:30 p.m.

Find out where your favorite qualifying after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

While last Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Martinsville Speedway was lackluster, the folks at Texas Motor Speedway promise to excite you. Of course the sun is hot in Texas during the day, but once the sun dims and the lights go on, there is another type of heat. Expect the first night race of the 2013 season, well the second if you count the Sprint Unlimited, to be a great one.

Texas Motor Speedway is 1.5 miles around and banked at 24 degrees in the turns and located in Fort Worth, Texas. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In this race last year, Greg Biffle was following behind Jimmie Johnson for much of the race, but when the time was ready, Biffle drove past Johnson and cruised away to snap a 49-race winless streak and denying Hendrick Motorsports another victory.

It’s a Busch brother’s front row for Saturday evening’s race, but it is younger brother, Kyle who will lead the field to green.  Read the rest of this entry »

Carl Edwards performs a back flip to celebrate after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 3, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo taken by Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Coming off a miserable week at Daytona, where he wrecked five cars, Carl Edwards came to Phoenix International Raceway with a lot of hope to win and break the 70 race winless streak. Edwards survived a green-white-checkered finish and held off Jimmie Johnson to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at PIR.

In true fashion, Edwards did his celebratory backflip and then went into the stands to celebrate with the fans – just like he did after his last victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway almost two years ago.

“This is huge … one of the coolest wins of my life,” said Edwards. Read the rest of this entry »

(L-R) Drivers Travis Pastrana, Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing pose for a picture with Jack Roush during the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour on January 24, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Driven. The mantra Roush-Fenway Racing this 2013 NASCAR season, in both the Cup and Nationwide. The Ford team of Roush-Fenway Racing will field three cars this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and rookie Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. There are some big changes to RFR this season also, one being the loss of Matt Kenseth, who has moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing this season, and the addition of Penske Racing to the RFR engine department. With Jack Roush calling this 2013 lineup his “dream team”, will one of his drivers have a dream season or will the hype be too much? Read the rest of this entry »

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr and Danica Patrick walking through the pits together. LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

The rumors can officially be put to rest.

The 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, and the NASCAR bombshell, Danica Patrick are indeed an item according to the Associated Press.

“I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard,” she said during an exclusive telephone interview with AP.

Stenhouse Jr. also confirmed the relationship to the AP saying, “Yes we are dating, I don’t normally say too much about my private life, always been focused on the track. I didn’t want to confirm at media day so that we could keep the focus on the season, the Gen-6 (car), my sponsors and team. That’s what it’s all about for me.”

There is no secret around the NASCAR garage at the two drivers are friends.

Patrick, who announced her split from husband Paul Hospenthal on Facebook in November, filed for divorce on January 3rd after saying their marriage of seven years was “irretrievably broken.” While Stenhouse has never been married.

With the budding relationship building between the two drivers the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2013 just got even more interesting as they both will be competing for the Rookie of the Year against each other.

Ryan Newman and Matt Borland will be back together for the 2013 season. Credit: CMS/HHP Photo

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Six days until the start of Preseason Thunder 2013 at the high banks of Daytona International Speedway and there are enough changes to get any diehard NASCAR fan confused.

In Friday’s article, I talked about some of the rule changes and changes to teams. In this article, I’ll explain some of the latest crew chief changes, which includes a reuniting one  a great driver/crew chief team. Read the rest of this entry »