Author: Mike Haag

Courtesy of the NHRA ENNIS, Texas – On the Friday night of the most recent NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event, Top Fuel’s Clay Millican put together the quickest run in NHRA history, going an incredible 3.631 at 330.39 mph. With that in mind, Millican is excited to see what he can do to kick off the second half of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship on Friday at the Texas Motorplex. It’s the site of this weekend’s AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, and Millican will look to put together another spectacular run in his 10,000-horsepower…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Texas Motor Speedway will forever be synonymous as the NASCAR superstar captured milestone victories in two national series at the world-renowned motorsports facility. That connection from his first career wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and XFINITY Series coming at Texas Motor Speedway will be further strengthened by Monday’s announcement of his induction into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame during November’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader playoff weekend. Earnhardt Jr. will become the 19th member inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of…

By Mike Haag ENNIS, Texas – Steve Torrence is on a roll on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel dragster circuit. The 34-year old Kilgore, Texas resident and driver of the Capco Contractors / Torrence Racing dragster will return to Texas to compete on October 12-15 at the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex near Dallas. Torrence enters the event with a 42-point lead over Doug Kalitta in the championship standings. Brittany Force is 41 points back in third, followed by Antron Brown and Clay Millican. Rounding out the top 10 in the Countdown to…

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service CONCORD, N.C. – The only thing typical about Martin Truex Jr.’s performance at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the win. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team screwed up in qualifying on Friday—a rare occurrence in a remarkable season for the series leader. Truex failed to score points in the first stage of Sunday’s Bank of America 500, the first race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12. That marked the first time since Daytona in July that Truex had finished outside the top 10 in Stage 1 of a race.…

Courtesy of NASCAR CONCORD, N.C. – Alex Bowman rolled to his first NASCAR national-series victory in the XFINITY Series on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, prevailing in a rain-delayed primetime race that whittled the postseason field to eight drivers. Bowman, making just his first XFINITY start of the year, led 32 of the 200 laps in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet to win the Drive for The Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. He’ll be making the transition to full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing next year, replacing Dale Earnhardt…

News, notes and photos courtesy of NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Next Race: Bank of America 500 The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway The Date: Sunday, Oct. 8 The Time: 2 p.m. ET TV: NBC, 1 p.m. ET Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Distance: 501 miles (334 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 90), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 180), Final Stage (Ends on lap 334) Round Of 12 Starts At Charlotte The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opens its Round of 12 with Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage returns to Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend as his alma mater honors him with the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award. The award, given by the MTSU Alumni Association, is presented to an alumnus representing excellence and distinction through their professional career, loyal support and service to the broader community. Gossage will accept his award during MTSU’s homecoming festivities Friday beginning at 4 p.m. Gossage also will receive recognition at other various homecoming activities throughout the weekend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5CSxLg4J-Y&feature=youtu.be “It will be…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – At 21 years old, NASCAR star Chase Elliott can relate to college students. That’s why Elliott is taking time out from his run at a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship Thursday to visit via Skype with sports marketing students at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Elliott, the 2016 NASCAR Cup rookie of the year, will take on the role of professor with 30 TCU students at Smith Hall and provide an athlete’s perspective of sports marketing and NASCAR beginning at 12:45 p.m. CT. His discussion will serve…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Chip Gaines, who co-stars with his wife Joanna on HGTV’s hit television show Fixer Upper, has been named as the honorary pace car driver for the AAA Texas 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff race Sunday, Nov. 5, at Texas Motor Speedway. Gaines will lead a pack of 40 drivers, including the Round of 8 championship contenders, to the green flag in the official 2017 Chevrolet SS pace car in his role as the honorary pace car driver for the AAA Texas 500. He also will be acknowledged at the…

Courtesy of the NHRA GLENDORA, Calif. – NHRA announced today that the Pro Stock Car category, which will compete at all 24 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events in 2018, will feature 8-car fields at nine selected events and 16-car fields at the other 15 events. The change in field size is intended to elevate competition and spark renewed interest in the Pro Stock Car category, bringing more exciting qualifying to events with historically fewer entries in the category. The 8-car fields will be at the following events: Houston, Topeka, Epping, Englishtown, Bristol, Denver, Sonoma, Seattle, and Brainerd. NHRA has been…