Author: Mike Haag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service #NASCARGoesWest: Auto Club Speedway As NASCAR competitors arrive on the final leg of their popular #NASCARGoesWest swing, there are two drivers in particular, who acknowledge Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), that can historically extend a streak of luck. For Kevin Harvick, it’s good luck. He comes into the race looking to become the first person in 11 years to win four consecutive Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. For fellow Californian Jimmie Johnson, the weekend is about ending a streak…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Andrew Blejde lives roughly 1,600 miles from Texas Motor Speedway. A resident of New York City, the 26-year-old spends his days as a software engineer for J.P. Morgan. When he isn’t developing programming for the financial services leader in the Big Apple, he’s following all the big news at Texas Motor Speedway via social media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ar4fIrk96g&feature=youtu.be So when he saw on Twitter that tickets were officially on sale for the new Restart Bar, “I was immediately on the phone,” he said. “There’s really no race like one put on…

Courtesy of the NHRA GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Racing at Gainesville Raceway, the site of this weekend’s AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals has always been a big deal for three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Angelle Sampey and this year is no different. In addition to it being the first race of the Pro Stock Motorcycle year, Sampey will begin her second season with Team Liberty Racing, hoping to improve on last year’s 13th-place finish in points on her PSE/Team Liberty Racing Victory Magnum Motorcycle. With three career wins at the legendary facility and a strong off-season with a team that…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America induction ceremony Tuesday evening was crowded with a black-tie assortment representing the Who’s Who of auto racing – from emcee Mario Andretti to Trans Am champion Tommy Kendall to Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi to sports car great Scott Pruett and NASCAR champions Rusty Wallace and Terry Labonte. They all gathered to celebrate a long list of racing’s very best. One of those being honored was four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon, who sat on stage listening to acceptance speeches with a wide…

Courtesy of the NHRA GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After posting the earliest win to a season in his career, Pro Stock driver Chris McGaha is headed to Gainesville Raceway looking for redemption at this weekend’s 49th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. McGaha qualified No. 1 at the storied NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event in 2015 by a large margin, but fell in the semifinals of a race he felt he should have won. Following his victory at the most recent race this year in Phoenix in his Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro, McGaha is hoping to exorcise…

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – One of the most recognizable partnerships in all of sports has returned with vigor as NASCAR and Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday the return of the “Busch Pole Award” in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and that Busch will serve as the “Official Beer of NASCAR.” “They talk about heritage and being true to their values as core tenets of their brand and I think that fits very well with what NASCAR is and what it represents as well,’’ said Lou Garate, NASCAR vice president, partnership. “It’s a good fit. It’s a…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champ Christopher Bell highlight an early list of marquee drivers entered in the two-day April event at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track that also will feature a new title sponsor. The Tony Stewart presents the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals will take place the evenings of Friday, April 6 and Saturday, April 7 on the venue’s .4-mile dirt oval as part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.…

Courtesy of the NHRA GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It hasn’t been an ideal start for legendary Funny Car driver John Force, but the 16-time world champion is only focused on what is ahead at this weekend’s AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Following a massive engine explosion in Pomona and a crash at the most recent race in Phoenix, Force is anxious to return to action at Gainesville in his 10,000-horsepower PEAK Chevrolet Camaro SS. Gainesville Raceway is the site of Force’s last victory and home to eight career Force wins, the most of any Funny Car driver, which…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Multi-platinum star Bret Michaels, renowned as the lead singer for the glam metal band Poison, will headline the Loud & Proud Pre-Race Show Powered by Ashley HomeStores on Sunday, April 8 prior to the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Michaels’ appearance at Texas Motor Speedway is part of his “Party Starts Now” solo tour and is free to all that have purchased a ticket to the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. Fans also have an opportunity to get closer to Michaels…

Courtesy of the NHRA GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Since making his first career final round at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in 2016, Terry McMillen has continued to make noteworthy strides in his NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel career. Last year was his most impressive to date, as McMillen won his first career race in Top Fuel and also qualified for the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship for the first time. Headed back to his sponsor’s event, this weekend’s 49th annual AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, McMillen and his team have raised expectations…