NASCAR Cup Series

With a weekend full of rain delays, wild wrecks, close finishes, and underdog winners at Talladega Superspeedway behind them, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series head to Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s first superspeedway, for some night racing on Mother’s Day weekend at the track that is “Too Tough To Tame”.

With a three hour plus rain delay pushing the Aaron’s 499 from day into a Talladega Night, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Alabama 2.66 mile oval.

Funny what 38 points can do for a driver. That is the amount NASCAR gave back to Matt Kenseth after hearing the appeal for that engine violation that bit him after Kansas. For the 2003 champion, the change of mind moved him from outside a Chase place all the way up to fourth in the standings.

Bobby Labonte made his 700th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start at Talladega Superspeedway this past Sunday leading laps under green before being swept up in a late race wreck finishing 20th.

The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel today heard and considered the appeal of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

On Tuesday afternoon Penske Racing had its penalties from the race at Texas Motor Speedway heard by NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook, who reduced the suspensions for crew chief Paul Wolfe, car chief Jerry Kelley, lead engineer Brian Wilson and competition director Travis Geisler from seven races to three. The group will begin serving their suspensions this weekend at Darlington.

Carl Edwards will make his tenth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Darlington Raceway. He heads to Darlington second in the series point’s standings with one win, five top-five and six top-10 finishes.

Following his win at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR deemed Matt Kenseth’s motor to be illegal. A connecting rod was found to be approximately 2.7 grams underweight when NASCAR weighed it during the tear down of the race winning No.20 car from Kansas.

Three Camry drivers recorded top-10 finishes in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway following a near four-hour rain delay. Matt Kenseth (eighth) led a race-high 142 laps (of 192) and Toyota team owner Michael Waltrip (fourth) was the first Camry driver to the finish line, while his Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammate Martin Truex Jr. took seventh on Sunday.

No. 56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. is ready to take his new found luck to the “Lady in Black” Saturday night when the Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR’s historic tracks.