After weeks of falling races, NASCAR actually had a steady, even slightly up rating for a race on television. But, it wasn’t the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway; it was the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday.
Ryan Newman ended his winless drought at Phoenix International Raceway. Newman stayed out while most of the front runners pitted for two tires after Joey Logano blew a right front tire that brought out the final caution flag of the day with six laps remaining. Newman held off Kyle Larson on the two-lap overtime restart to win his first race since 2013 on Sunday in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500.
Drivers Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, and Rickey Stenhouse Jr. stayed out on old tires during the final caution flag at Phoenix International Raceway. Newman's crew chief Luke Lambert rolled the dice giving Newman the lead when the field went back green with two laps to go.
It was just over one year ago that my race car caught fire at Circuit of the Americas during an endurance event. You can read more about it here. Suffice to say that as fires go, this one was bad. Perhaps my fellow racers will find the following thoughts from that experience helpful.
It's no secret that vintage pickup trucks are the latest rage in collectible vehicles. They are inexpensive to restore, utterly reliable, born with a lengthy shelf life and they are enormously popular right now. If a collectible truck is on your wish list, here's what you should know about two of the mainstay trucks from the 1970s
Martin Truex Jr. was able to pass Brad Keselowski with two laps left in Sunday's Kobalt 400 and capture his eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win. Truex Jr. also became the first driver to win every segment along with the race victory.
A.J. Allmendinger is riding an upward trajectory into the new season, hoping to dominate the road courses where he performs best and possibly grab a win at another track along the way. His third place finish in the Daytona 500 is proof of his relevance in 2017.
Now that the dust has cleared and a Daytona 500 Champion has been crowned, it’s time to look back at that race and see where we are with the changes made by NASCAR. First, we must understand that Daytona (and its sister track, Talladega) are different animals than the rest of the tracks that the drivers will visit the rest of the races.
Sunday evening Kurt Busch was able to give Stewart-Haas Racing its first Daytona 500 victory. Kurt Busch took the lead on the final lap of Nascar's most prestigious race and was able to hold off Ryan Blaney to win the 2017 Daytona 500 for his new manufacturer Ford and SHR.
The 27-year-old Jones from Atlanta, Georgia, will rejoin Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot a Toyota Supra entry on a multiyear basis following a two-year campaign at JR Motorsports.
