Author: Mike Haag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two-thirds of the way into NASCAR’s much-anticipated #NASCARGoesWest swing through Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fontana, Calif. race tracks there are some distinct trends and historic possibilities in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Not only did Kevin Harvick earn his third consecutive win of the season on Sunday at ISM Raceway, but for the first time ever, his Stewart-Haas Racing team celebrated a top-10 sweep for all FOUR of its Fords. Not to be completely outdone, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team also had four cars in the top-10. And Hendrick…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – MetroPCS, one of the leading providers of wireless service in the United States, has signed a multi-year partnership with Texas Motor Speedway beginning immediately that will be concentrated on the two major NASCAR race weekends at the world-renowned motorsports facility. MetroPCS, with headquarters in Richardson, Texas, features a popular wireless plan with no annual contract and unlimited 4G LTE capability and will be the first wireless network provider to have a featured presence throughout Texas Motor Speedway’s expansive 1,500-acre property since Sprint left the sport as the title sponsor…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – As the old aphorism goes, there’s nothing certain except death and taxes. After Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, you can add Kevin Harvick at Phoenix to that list. Harvick beat Kyle Busch to the finish line by .774 seconds to win his third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series of the season, the first time a driver has strung three victories together since Busch accomplished the feat at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis. The victory was a record ninth for Harvick at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert and…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Chase Elliott finishes off a strong Sunday in third place AVONDALE, Ariz. – For Chase Elliott, Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway was a strong run that ended with a sigh of relief—that he finally got a finish worthy of the position he maintained throughout the afternoon. In fact, with a quick early pit stop on Lap 255 of 312, Elliott cycled out ahead of eventual race winner Kevin Harvick. Elliott couldn’t stay in front of Harvick, who passed him on Lap 279 for what was then fourth place, but he managed to…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – If the first race is an indication, the Verizon IndyCar Series is in for a wild, unpredictable and most exciting 2018 season. Sebastien Bourdais repeated as winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg today, but only after rookie Robert Wickens and Alexander Rossi collided while battling for the lead on the next-to-last of 110 edge-of-your-seat laps. It was the first of 17 Verizon IndyCar Series races this season. FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG: Official results For Bourdais, the spoils of being in the right place at the…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Neither a speeding penalty nor uncharacteristic rain in the Sonoran Desert could keep Brad Keselowski out of Victory Lane on Saturday at ISM Raceway. In winning the DC Solar 200 in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season, Keselowski picked up his second victory at the one-mile track and the 37th of his career, fifth most all-time. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford beat Justin Allgaier to the finish line by .530 second in a battle that saw Keselowski, Allgaier, third-place Kyle Busch and fourth-place Christopher…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Brexton Busch has high-speed driving in his DNA AVONDALE, Ariz. – It’s in the genes—and it’s in the machines. Kyle Busch’s son Brexton is two months shy of his third birthday, and he’s already showing a precocious need for speed. With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visiting ISM Raceway in Arizona for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM), Busch had a chance to take Brexton four-wheeling in the desert sand dunes. “Last year he went out with me a little bit,” Busch said on Friday. “We didn’t…

Courtesy of the Verizon IndyCar Series ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The unpredictability of the Verizon IndyCar Series reached a new and exciting level in Verizon P1 Award qualifying for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, with rookie Robert Wickens taking pole position in his debut event. On a track slick from light rain, Wickens slipped in a lap at the end of the Firestone Fast Six – the last of three knockout qualifying rounds – to claim the pole for Sunday’s 110-lap race that kicks off the 2018 season. Wickens’ circuit of 1 minute, 1.6643 seconds (105.085 mph)…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Hendrick Motorsports is back AVONDALE, Ariz. – That was the brief consensus when Jimmie Johnson shot to the top of the speed chart in the first round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at ISM Raceway. But the seven-time champion’s stint at the front of the field was short-lived. In the second round, Johnson was 17th fastest and failed to advance to the final round. Inexplicable? Hardly. “I kind of look back to the amount of practice we had today. We only had 20 minutes practice because of the issues we had in Las Vegas,…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. finally found the extra speed he needed at ISM Raceway. Saving his best lap for the final round of knockout qualifying on Friday at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, Truex sped around the circuit in 26.288 seconds (136.945 mph) to win the pole position for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 (3:30 ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Truex beat Kyle Larson (136.643 mph) by .058 seconds to earn his first pole of the season, his second at ISM Raceway and…