Last season, Aric Almirola wasn’t even able to compete in all 36 races due to a back injury he suffered at Kansas. But last November, it was announced that the thirty-three-year-old would get the opportunity of his life. Almirola was introduced as the new driver for the No. 10 car in 2018.
Martin Truex Jr.’s championship winning season was a perfect mix of talent and tenacity, executed with a precise strategy that took advantage of NASCAR’s new stage-based format.
It was early 2015 when the World Endurance Championships (WEC) got rid of them, and Formula 1 may be next. Director Ross Brawn of Liberty Media, the new controlling group of Formula 1, recently said that the tradition of grid girls is being reconsidered.
Back for his sophomore season is twenty-one-year-old Erik Jones. In 2017, Jones raced his first full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for Furniture Row Racing in the No. 77. The 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year is going back to a familiar team, Joe Gibbs Racing.
It’s not the way that an athlete wants to get a chance to shine, but sometimes someone’s misfortune the can turn into someone else’s opportunity of a lifetime (see Tom Brady). But that’s exactly what happened to Darrell “Bubba” Watson this past NASCAR season when Richard Petty Motorsports needed a substitute driver to replace the injured Aric Almirola for an extended period of time.
The 2017 season was an impressive season for Michael McDowell and the No. 95 team. The No. 95 team earned a total of twenty-five top-25 finishes and one top-5 at Daytona in July.
My NASCAR writing journey began nine years ago when my daughter went away to college. As an only child, she decided I would be very lonely without her. She saw an ad for NASCAR writers on a then new website called Bleacher Report. So, she signed me up and off I went writing all sorts of posts, some of which were really awful and some of which were only semi-awful. But it was great fun and I met some wonderful writers, editors, and photographers, many who have become lifetime friends.
With the 2017 NASCAR season in their rear-view mirror, Richard Petty Motorsports has their eyes on the future and the ultimate goal of restoring the iconic #43 car as a force in the sport. They took a huge step in that direction late this past season when they announced that Darrell “Bubba” Wallace would be their new driver in 2018 replacing Aric Almirola who had been their full-time driver since 2012.
When the smoke of burning rubber clears and the engines turn off, how do NASCAR drivers spend their time? At times, the offseason is about relaxing. But most drivers also manage to get a lot accomplished during their time. Here are some of the many different ways that NASCAR drivers spend the offseason.
As the checkered flag waved on the 2017 season Sunday night, Martin Truex Jr. became our newest champion. It has indeed been a season to remember for Truex who has risen in the past five years from just another driver to a Monster Energy Cup Series champion.
The 2022 Truck Series champion from Huntington Beach, California, was fined $50,000 for accelerating into the rear of Carson Hocevar's entry during the cooldown lap this past weekend at Phoenix and amid earlier run-ins between the duo.
Spire Motorsports has one pole, one win, two top fives and five top 10s. Carson Hocevar earned his first career Cup Series victory at Talladega April 26.
The ultimate sendoff to NHRA’s 75th anniversary season comes at famed In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, where champions will be crowned in thrilling fashion at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals on Nov. 12-15.
