Author: Mike Haag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a warm homecoming sort of spirit, Roush Fenway Racing announced Wednesday that veteran driver Matt Kenseth, who won a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship with the team back in 2003, would return to the organization next month and share driving time with Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 Ford. Kenseth, 46, spent his first 13 full-time Monster Energy Series seasons driving for Roush – winning a pair of Daytona 500 trophies and the season title – before moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he competed from 2013-2017. While the Roush…

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – There is a thin margin between success and an early exit during the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season in Pro Stock and three-time world champion Jason Line has found the wrong side of that too often for his liking over the past three events. After starting the season with back-to-back final round appearances, Line has suffered first-round defeats the last three races heading into this weekend’s NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. The unique challenges and spectacle of four-wide racing adds an extra layer of difficulty for…

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – A strong start to Jack Beckman’s 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season includes the former Funny Car world champion winning in Gainesville, a runner-up at the four-wide event in Las Vegas, a No. 1 qualifier and the points lead through five events. But it was the performance Beckman and his team had last weekend in Houston that gives the 27-time event winner even more confidence heading into this weekend’s NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Despite a number of issues throughout eliminations in Beckman’s 10,000-horsepower Infinite Hero Foundation…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s a big deal and rare achievement when any driver reels off three consecutive wins in the premier Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. And only nine races into the 2018 season – that’s happened twice already. Kyle Busch’s impressive showing at Richmond Raceway Saturday night earned the 32-year-old his third straight Monster Energy Series win (also at Texas and Bristol). Kevin Harvick accomplished the feat a month ago, winning three consecutive races at Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix. He finished a disappointing 35th the next week in California at Auto Club…

Courtesy of the NHRA CONCORD, N.C. – Not only is Steve Torrence the defending event winner at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals event, which returns this weekend to zMAX Dragway, but the Top Fuel standout also won the inaugural four-wide racing event in Las Vegas earlier this month. It puts him on an impressive run when it comes to one of the biggest spectacles in drag racing and in a favorable position heading into this weekend’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event. Now the standout is hoping for even more progress on a 2018 season that already…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Josef Newgarden raced on cruise control in today’s completion of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First. Even a return of rain late in the race didn’t prevent the Team Penske driver from collecting his third Verizon IndyCar Series win at Barber Motorsports Park in the past four years. Newgarden drove the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet to a 9.9607-second victory at the hilly 2.3-mile, 17-turn permanent road course, despite increasingly treacherous track conditions as rain that caused the race to be suspended after 22…

BAYTOWN, Texas – The champ is back. Defending NHRA Top Fuel champion Brittany Force, who opened the season at the Lucas Oil Winternationals in Pomona with a horrific wreck that nearly sidelined her racing season and career, returned to Victory Lane by winning the 31st annual NHRA SpringNationals on Sunday at Royal Purple Raceway. “This is a big win for us because our season has been so up and down,” Force said. “Our wreck in Pomona was a tough start, but it’s because of the support system I have around me – sponsors and my team – that got us…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Heavy rain pounded Barber Motorsports Park throughout the day and forced suspension of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First on Lap 23. The race will be completed starting at noon ET Monday. NBCSN will air the Verizon IndyCar Series race’s conclusion live starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. The Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcast begins at noon. HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA: Unofficial lap report when suspended The ninth annual Indy car race on the 2.3-mile permanent road course began in rainy conditions that grew progressively…

Courtesy of the NHRA BAYTOWN, Texas – J.R. Todd captured his first career back-to-back Funny Car victory Sunday afternoon at the 31st annual NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway. Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) were also victorious in their respective categories at the fifth of 24 events on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Todd powered his DHL Toyota Camry to a pass of 3.955-seconds at 313.29 mph to defeat defending world champion Robert Hight in the final round. He is the third driver in Royal Purple Raceway history to have won in both…

BAYTOWN – After suffering a horrific crash at the NHRA Winternationals Top Fuel driver Brittany Force is on the road to recovery and is ready to earn her first win of the 2018 racing season. This weekend Force returns to Texas to compete in the 31st annual NHRA SpringNationals at Royal Purple Raceway. However, two months ago her racing season and career almost came to a sudden end. “It has been a whirlwind season,” Force said. “We pulled out a brand-new car in Pomona and that was my team’s dream car. We loved it and, unfortunately, we wrecked it.” About…