Author: Mike Haag

ENNIS, Texas – Through a standout career that includes eight NHRA Top Fuel world championships, Tony Schumacher has displayed an incredible ability to produce remarkable late-season runs to grab a world title. Trailing teammate and reigning world champion Antron Brown by 141 points, Schumacher will again need to dial up something special in his 10,000-horsepower U.S. Army dragster over the final three events, including this weekend’s 31st annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex. Schumacher is well aware of that and, as usual, is anxious for the opportunity. “With the way the U.S. Army team has been performing…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – After Sunday’s victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson can proclaim justifiably “The Boys are Back in Town.” But for five other Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, all of whom finished 30th or worse in the rain-delayed Bank of America 500, the race ended in a medley of dire straits. Taking the lead from Matt Kenseth after a restart on Lap 317 of 334, Johnson pulled away to win by 1.474 seconds over the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Johnson put his No. 48 Chevrolet…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – If stealing a race were against the law, there would be an arrest warrant out for Joey Logano on Sunday night. Grabbing the lead from Kyle Larson after a restart on Lap 183 of 200, Logano held off a charging Elliott Sadler by .462 seconds to win the Drive for the Cure 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the event that trimmed the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Chase field from 12 drivers to eight. Larson, who led 165 laps and at one point had the lead lap to himself,…

MOHNTON, Pa. – Tommy Johnson Jr. raced to the Funny Car victory at the Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway on Sunday. Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Vincent Nobile (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victorious in their respective categories at the 21st event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The Dodge NHRA Nationals is the third race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Johnson Jr. powered his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T to a 3.895-second pass at 330.63 mph in the final round to defeat…

FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway will create a driver bobblehead series around its three major race weekends in 2017 featuring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, Sprint Cup Series star Danica Patrick and defending Firestone 600 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Graham Rahal. Patrick will kick off the limited-edition series as the featured bobblehead for the fan promotional giveaway at the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, April 9. The Rahal bobblehead will be showcased at the Texas Indy 600 Verizon IndyCar Series race on Saturday, June 10, and the bobblehead of Harvick, the…

MOHNTON, Pa. – NHRA officials cancelled the first two rounds of qualifying at the 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway on Friday, Sept. 30, after rain and persistent mist. The Dodge NHRA Nationals is the third race of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoffs that will decide the 2016 world champions. Officials consistently worked throughout the day to dry the track but as the temperature dropped and misting continued, racing for the day was called at 4:25 p.m. NHRA Mello Yello Series qualifying is set to begin as scheduled on Saturday, Oct. 1,…

East Room 11:18 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Please have a seat — it’s not that formal around here.  (Laughter.)  How you doing?  Well, welcome to the White House, everybody.  And give it up for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Kyle Busch!  (Applause.) We also are happy to welcome here Kyle’s wonderful wife, Samantha, who I just learned is from the Chicago area so she and I, we’ve got a little bond going here.  (Laughter.)  We’ve got some members of Congress here who are big NASCAR fans.  We’ve got NASCAR CEO Brian France and his beautiful family, who — they keep…

MADISON, Ill. – Shawn Langdon raced to his third victory of the year Sunday at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park just outside of St. Louis. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Alex Laughlin (Pro Stock) and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victorious in their respective categories at the 20th event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals is the second race of the six-race NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs. Langdon powered his Red Fuel / Sandvik Coromant dragster to a 3.798-second…

By Reid Spencer LOUDON, N.H. – Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings? Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase? That’s all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire, the second race in the Chase. Surging ahead of Matt…

By Reid Spencer  LOUDON, N. H. – William Byron stole a page from his mentor and team owner, Kyle Busch. Leading 161 of 175 laps in Saturday’s UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – the first race in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase – Byron cruised to victory, the way Busch has done so many times before, and punched his ticket into the Chase’s Round of 6. Not that runner-up Christopher Bell, Byron’s stablemate at Kyle Busch Motorsports, didn’t make it interesting in the closing laps. As Byron worked traffic in the late going, Bell closed…