Elliott Sadler makes his debut in the No. 55 this weekend driving the RK Motors Collector Car Auctions Toyota in his home state of Virginia where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tackles the flat, half-mile of Martinsville Speedway.
Seven-time Martinsville Speedway winner Jeff Gordon first raced here in the early 1990's. While a lot has changed since then, Gordon and the No. 24 Drive To End Hunger team are expecting much of the same this Sunday in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 powered by Kroger.
FINDING SHORT TRACK COMFORT: If you're taking picks on drivers looking to compete for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Martinsville Speedway this weekend, don't count John Wes Townley out of it. The driver of the No. 7 Zaxby's Toyota Tundra has demonstrated considerable talent during this 2013 season with 4 top-10 and 11 top-15 finishes. Four of those top-15 finishes are on tracks one mile in length or less. As the young driver continues to gain confidence on track, you might just find him as one of the front runners in Saturday's Kroger 200.
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fourth (Paul Menard), 12th (Kevin Harvick) and 21st (Jeff Burton) in the Camping World RV Sales 500.
Following the event at Talladega Superspeedway, Harvick is tied for third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, 26 markers behind the leader, while Menard is 16th and Burton sits 20th.
Trevor Bayne and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane crew showed in Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 500 at Talladega Superspeedway that when it comes to restrictor-plate racing they’re among the best in the Sprint Cup Series. Bayne had to start 26th after qualifying was rained out, but once the green flag dropped on Sunday, he and the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion were on the march toward the front.
With 15 laps remaining in the 188-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway, Jamie McMurray powered his No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet SS to the front of the pack and held off a charge by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the No. 88 Mountain Dew/XBox One Chevy SS to win the Camping World RV Sales 500.
Camry driver Kyle Busch (fifth) was the top-finishing Toyota in Sunday afternoon's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway.
The Furniture Row Racing driver, who had his colorful Wonder Bread Chevrolet running up front for most of the 188-lap Sprint Cup event, fell back in the closing laps on the 2.66-mile oval.
JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER - WHAT A FINISH. TAKE US THROUGH THE DAY YOU HAD AND WHERE YOU CAME FROM IN THE FINAL 35 LAPS: “I knew that our Cessna Chevrolet was good in practice and I just could never get the right line. At the plate tracks to get the right line, it requires a lot of risk and I felt like I was pretty patient all day and I saw the 17 and the 88 coming on the top."
The 35-year-old Preece from Berlin, Connecticut, led 46 of 200 laps and outlasted sleet conditions and numerous on-track chaos to become the 27th competitor to win the Clash.
Josh Berry won the Last Chance Qualifier race while Austin Cindric outbattled Corey LaJoie for the second spot after a spirited side-by-side battle over the closing laps. Berry and Cindric will compete in the Clash Main Event at Bowman Gray Stadium
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Wednesday prior to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
