FILE – In this Oct. 16, 2009, file photo, former NASCAR driver and owner Junior Johnson smiles as he speaks to media about being named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame during a news conference at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Johnson, who won 50 NASCAR Cup Series races as a driver and 132 as an owner and was…
FILE – In this July 1, 2017, file photo, Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Dallas Church Choir speaks as he introduces President Donald Trump during the Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The Megachurch pastor has been selected by Talladega Superspeedway to give Sunday’s pre-race invocation and wave the green flag….
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – NASCAR driver Brian Scott plans to retire after next week’s season finale to spend more time with his family. Scott is 28 and has been racing at NASCAR’s national level since 2007. He has two young children. Albertsons Companies, Scott’s longtime sponsor, said it would terminate its NASCAR program after the season. However, Richard Petty Motorsports…
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Austin Dillon is on the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas two weeks after a heartbreaking finish knocked him out of the championship chase. Dillon had a fast lap of 192.301 mph in the final round of qualifying Friday to earn his third career pole. Joey Logano qualified second, and will be…
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – Kevin Harvick won the pole Thursday night for the opening race of the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Harvick turned a lap at 196.029 mph to earn the top starting spot Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He edged Alex Bowman, the replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chase Elliott qualified third and was followed by…
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – Kevin Harvick passed Denny Hamlin for the lead with 70 laps to go and held to win at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, ending a two-day, water-logged ordeal. Harvick led 128 laps for his second victory of the season and his second at the high-banked, half-mile concrete bullring. Fittingly for a race halted because of Saturday…
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s race team said on Twitter that four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon won’t be able to drive the No. 88 car next week in Michigan. Earnhardt has missed the past four races and will sit out the Saturday night event at Bristol Motor Speedway as he recovers from a concussion. Gordon has filled…
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) – Carl Edwards won his second straight pole at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading Joe Gibbs Racing’s Olympic-style sweep of the top three spots in qualifying Friday for the Saturday night race. Edwards had a fast lap of 131.407 mph on the concrete surface of the half-mile track. He bested teammates Denny Hamlin in second and Kyle Busch…
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) – Three days after signing Martin Truex Jr. to a contract extension, Furniture Row Racing announced Sunday that it was adding a second car to its Sprint Cup lineup to be driven next season by Xfinity rookie Erik Jones. Team owner Barney Visser said the contract with the 20-year-old Jones is for one year with the…
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) – Chris Buescher waited out a foul-weathered end on pit road to become a stunning winner in Monday’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. Buescher, who drives for underfunded Front Row Motorsports and hadn’t finished better than 14th all season, was the beneficiary of bad weather on a rare Monday race that had been postponed a…
