Author: Mike Haag

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – The final day of qualifying for the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals concluded on Saturday afternoon. Funny Car racer Courtney Force along with her sister Brittany Force in Top Fuel, retained their No. 1 qualifying positions from Friday at zMAX Dragway. Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the sixth of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Force was able to use her 3.873-second pass at 332.92 mph run during the first day…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Kevin Harvick hadn’t won a pole at a restrictor-plate track since 2005. Kurt Busch had never topped qualifying for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at a superspeedway. But those two Stewart-Haas Racing Ford drivers were the class of the field during time trials on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, where Harvick outdueled Busch to secure his first Busch Pole Award of the season. In the decisive second round, Harvick covered the 2.66-mile distance in 49.247 seconds (194.448 mph) to earn his second Talladega pole and the 22nd of his career. Busch…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Can Austin Dillon pull off an encore at Talladega? TALLADEGA, Ala. – When Austin Dillon drove his No. 3 Richard Children Racing Chevrolet to victory in the season-opening Daytona 500, he broke a string of three Ford wins at the Birthplace of Speed. At Talladega Superspeedway, site of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Ford drivers have won five straight races. That’s another streak Dillon would like to end. But he knows he’ll have plenty of competition, in part because teams have made progress with the no-ride-height…

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – Fans in attendance at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals witnessed two sisters take the preliminary top spots in their respective categories. Top Fuel pilot Brittany Force and Funny Car racer Courtney Force, are qualifying leaders after the first day of action at zMAX Dragway. Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and Cory Reed (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the sixth of 24 events on the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. In the final Friday qualifying session, B. Force raced her Monster Energy dragster to a…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Brad Keselowski’s first experience in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory circle came in 2009 at Talladega Superspeedway – the largest track on the circuit, in front of the rowdiest fans and competing against a field filled with the biggest names in stock car racing. He considers that April afternoon – surprising the field in his part-time gig driving for the smaller James Finch-owned team – one of the most pivotal moments in his championship career. “That was a huge, huge win for me,’’ Keselowski, 34, recalled. “I think that first…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Talladega – the track where winning streaks come to die TALLADEGA, Ala. – Riding the crest of a three-race winning streak, Kyle Busch comes to Talladega with a chance to join elite company. In NASCAR’s modern era (1972 to present), only eight drivers have managed to win four straight events in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. With a victory in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Busch would equal the four-victory streaks of Cale Yarborough (1976), Darrell Waltrip (1981), Dale Earnhardt…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – NASCAR announced Friday morning that it has acquired the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series after a 60-plus year relationship between the sanctioning bodies that started with NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr. and ARCA founder John Marcum. NASCAR Vice Chairman Jim France joined Marcum’s grandson, ARCA President Ron Drager, at Talladega Superspeedway Friday morning to formalize the announcement. “Our NASCAR family has long had a special connection with our friends at ARCA, and this is a logical step in demonstrating our commitment to the next generation of racers,’’ France said.…

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – Back with the team he enjoyed so much success with during the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, LE Tonglet is looking forward to putting on another show at this weekend’s NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The former Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion announced earlier this week he was returning to the White Alligator Racing team owned by 2016 world champ Jerry Savoie, hoping to recreate the magic and success that led to six wins a year ago. The first of those started in Charlotte, where Tonglet…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Busch goes for fourth straight win at tumultuous Talladega With the unpredictable nature and high stakes racing that innately exists at NASCAR’s biggest track, Talladega (Alabama) Superspeedway, there is always a lot that goes in to hoisting a trophy there. For Kyle Busch, racing to his second Talladega win in Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m., FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Radio) will not just be a sense of season accomplishment – it would mark his fourth consecutive 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race win in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota and absolutely worthy for…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Fans who have always wondered what it’s like to drive around Texas Motor Speedway’s famed mile-and-a-half oval will have their opportunity on Saturday, May 19. Speedway Children’s Charities Texas-Chapter will host its “Laps for Charity” event, which provides fans the opportunity to drive their own vehicles around the track while supporting children throughout North Texas. For a $40 donation pervehicle, registrants will receive an official “Laps for Charity” t-shirt as well as three lapsaround the world-renowned motorsports facility and through its thrilling high-banked turns. The event, which will run from 5-10 p.m., will be paced…