Author: Mike Haag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ryan Preece is doing everything he can to find a permanent home in a stock car. At the top of his to-do list is winning, which he did for the second time in seven NASCAR Xfinity Series starts on Saturday when he outran Justin Allgaier to win the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the victory came a $100,000 bonus, courtesy of the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash program. In Victory Lane, Preece was already spending it. “You know what? I’ll probably do something for my parents; do something…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Crash in final practice knocks Kurt Busch off front row BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kurt Busch was a mere .002 seconds behind Kyle Busch in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway. On Saturday, however, a wall came between the brothers, who no longer will start side-by-side on the front row for Sunday’s Food City 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Up until the final 10 minutes of final practice, the weekend had gone nearly perfectly for Kurt Busch, who was set to be part of…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series LONG BEACH, California – Being a past winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach paid off in practice today for Sunday’s 35th Indy car race on the famous street course in Southern California. All seven prior race winners entered this year finished in the top 10 on the combined timesheet for the two sessions on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary circuit. Scott Dixon, the 2015 Long Beach race winner, was quickest for the day with a lap of 1 minute, 8.4112 seconds (103.562 mph) logged in the first of the 45-minute practices. TOYOTA…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kurt Busch was an elite talent as a young driver, and if anything, brother Kyle Busch was even more precocious. “He always told everybody, ‘If you think I’m good, wait for my younger brother,’” Kyle Busch quipped on Friday after winning the pole for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway—by .002 seconds over his older brother. “I can’t believe it’s two thousandths,” said Kurt Busch, who ran 128.804 mph to Kyle’s 128.822 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying. “It seemed like an eternity.” Kurt admitted to being…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service New right-side Bristol tire has Kyle Busch searching for familiar feel BRISTOL, Tenn. – In Friday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch couldn’t find a familiar feel. “Here today, for some reason, the traction compound (applied in the lower lane) doesn’t feel anything like I remember it from last fall,” said Busch, whose victory last Augusta made him a six-time winner at the track. “It’s just not quite as grippy as I remember it being. For some reason, it’s just really easy to slip out of it…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Jimmie Johnson showed up for his news conference Friday morning at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway dressed nicely in a “Lowe’s” emblazoned polo shirt and “Lowe’s’’ cap. The defending champion of Sunday’s Food City 500 [2 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio] greeted reporters, laughed a little and fully confronted the elephant in the room. He is on the longest winless streak of his seven-time NASCAR Cup championship career – 30 races – and yet simultaneously remains a race trophy away from tying NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – If enthusiasm is as contagious as the saying goes, Kyle Larson could pretty easily pass it along to the NASCAR’s entire Monster Energy NASCAR Cup garage at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway this weekend. The 25-year old Californian smiled widely Friday morning just anticipating Sunday’s Food City 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “Bristol is my favorite track and I always get excited to come here, so really looking forward to the weekend,” said Larson, who drives Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 McDonald’s Camaro ZL1. And that’s saying something. Especially…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Fast Facts Race weekend: Friday, April 13 – Sunday, April 15 Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise) in Long Beach, California Race distance: 85 laps / 167.28 miles Entry List: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (PDF) Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra set for Practice 1. Twitter: @ToyotaGPLB @IndyCar, #TGPLB, #IndyCar Event website: www.gplb.com INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com 2017 race winner: James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Arrow Electronics Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) 2017…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service The NASCAR racing at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway half-mile is innately exciting, challenging and must-see TV. And if you ask the drivers, it’s a real skill set that is important to master. Some competitors seem to fall into it naturally. For others, it’s a work in progress. It’s been five years – 10 races – since someone has won twice consecutively at Bristol. Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski did so in the Fall of 2011 and the Spring of 2012 – his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship season. The last five races at…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The competition package and format for NASCAR’s highly anticipated May 19 Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race will have a new look, one the sanctioning body feels confident will provide a lot of excitement for both fans and drivers in the annual non-points event. NASCAR announced the format Wednesday evening for the popular race at Charlotte Motor Speedway – which features all the race winners from the 2017 and 2018 seasons (to date), all former winners of the All-Star race, Monster Energy Series champions who are currently competing fulltime, the winner of…