By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – You might say Johnny Sauter is on a roll. Then again, that might be an understatement. Passing Matt Crafton near the start/finish line with two laps left in Friday night’s Striping Technology 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, Sauter pulled away to win his second straight race in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase. In the process, he deprived Crafton of a chance to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 finale, set for Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Crafton won a drag…
Author: Mike Haag
Mike Haag
Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 39 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 19 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.
FORT WORTH – Click on the sideshow below to see a variety of photos from Friday’s race action at Texas Motor Speedway. All photos provided courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR and Getty Images.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway and Levy Restaurants are using a play on words with their new creation – the Hawg Heaven Three Little Pigs – at next weekend’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend. The Hawg Heaven Three Little Pigs is the next generation of the highly successful, bacon-infused Hawg Heaven line is anything but little. Levy Restaurants Executive Chef Lincoln Engstrom’s new creation is sure to entice all race fans to check it out. This oversized meal, which will be served on a stick, is anything by “little” as it features: A mouth-watering nine ounces…
FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway will honor retiring Tony Stewart’s career at the speedway with a 20-image photo gallery for fans to pay tribute to him on their social media platforms leading into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Using “Throwback Thursday” for its social integration theme, the speedway kicks off “#TBT Goes Up In Smoke” beginning today with a selection of photos that span Stewart’s versatile career at Texas Motor Speedway dating to the facility’s inaugural season of 1997. The speedway is encouraging fans to select their favorite “Throwback Thursday” photo of…
DALLAS, Texas – It turned out to be a dog day afternoon for the students at the Nathan Adams and Tom C. Gooch elementary schools. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson of Target Chip Ganassi Racing made special visits Thursday to the Dallas ISD schools to celebrate their participation in Texas Motor Speedway’s Speeding To Read program and brought along a well-known, four-legged furry friend. Larson surprised the students at both schools by strolling into the full-school assemblies with Bullseye – the bull terrier that is the official mascot of the Target Corporation – in what turned out to be a day…
News and notes provided courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series Montoya returns to Team Penske for 2017 Indianapolis 500: Juan Pablo Montoya will return to Team Penske for the 2017 Indianapolis 500, team president Tim Cindric confirmed to INDYCAR. It is currently the only Verizon IndyCar Series race that the two-time Indy 500 winner is scheduled to drive in the 2017 season. Montoya has won 15 Indy car races in 91 career starts over five seasons. The 41-year-old Colombian drove for Chip Ganassi Racing in CART in 1999-2000 and for Team Penske from 2014-16, with stints in Formula One and…
FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister, known for leading his team into the postseason, will lead a different playoff group during Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Banister will lead a pack of 40 drivers, including the Round of 8 championship contenders, to the green flag as part of his role as the honorary pace car driver for the AAA Texas 500. The AAA Texas 500, part of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup post-season, elimination-style championship format, will start at 1 p.m. CT (TV: NBC, Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Radio, 95.6 FM The Ranch locally).…
By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service MARTINSVILLE, Va. –Mr. Martinsville is back – and with him, a realistic shot at a record-tying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.Winless at the .526-mile short track since the spring race of 2013, Jimmie Johnson ended his “drought” on Sunday with a victory in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 and earned a berth in the Championship 4 race, set for Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.In winning for the ninth time at Martinsville, the fourth time this season and the 79th time in his career, Johnson didn’t take the lead until he passed Denny Hamlin for…
Story and photos courtesy of Elon Werner and Gary Nastase LAS VEGAS – John Force was racing in his 246th final round and he picked up his 147th win today at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Force won for the second time in the Countdown to the Championship and outran his daughter Courtney Force in the 47th all JFR Funny Car final. The 16-time champion moved up from No. 7 to No. 5 in the Mello Yello point standings and just seven points out of fourth place. “They told me all I…
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Steve Torrence added an exclamation point to an already spectacular season Sunday with a flawless performance that propelled his Capco Contractors/Rio Ammunition Top Fuel dragster to a statement win in the 16th annual Toyota Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A final round victory over J.R. Todd pushed the 33-year-old Texan past Doug Kalitta and into second place in points behind Antron Brown who, by advancing to the semifinals, clinched his second straight Mello Yello championship and third in five years. “The goal always is to win the championship,” Torrence said, “but…