NASCAR Cup Series

As if the anticipation of his inaugural Daytona 500 wasn’t enough for Erik Jones, the driver of Furniture Row Racing’s No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry prepared for the 59th running of the Great American Race by experiencing a completely unique sensation of speed, horsepower, g-forces, and patriotism: a flight with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

Darlington Raceway is pleased to announce that it is once again giving fans the opportunity to participate in a special race-day celebration featuring several NASCAR Hall of Famers and other industry legends that helped build the foundation of the sport.

“I will have to relive that moment the rest of my career unless I win it,” said Martin Truex Jr., in reference to being on the wrong end of last year’s Daytona 500 photo finish.

Richard Childress Racing's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series history at Daytona International Speedway ... Dating back to 1976, Richard Childress Racing has won 11 poles and collected five points-paying victories at the most-storied race track on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit.

Trevor Bayne returns to the sight of his first career NASCAR victory and one of the biggest upset wins in sports history; Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Bayne scored the historic victory in the 2011 running of the Daytona 500. Running up front for virtually the entire race, the young driver held off the field in a feverish green-white-checkered finish to earn his place in the annals of NASCAR history. Bayne capped off a dominant Speedweeks effort by becoming the youngest winner in the history of the “Great American Race” at 20 years and one day old.

After winning last weekend’s Clash for the eighth time, Ford will be looking for its 15th victory in Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Ford has won the event four times in the last eight years, and has three previous race-winners in its lineup with Kevin Harvick (2007), Trevor Bayne (2011) and Joey Logano (2015).

Today, Team Penske announced that it has formed a technical partnership with Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company.

After earning the eighth fastest time during Saturday’s practice, the 2013 NASCAR Rookie of the Year qualified 13th in Sunday’s qualifying session scoring him the seventh starting-position for Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel 1 which sets the field for the Daytona 500.

The sun was shining, at least on Sunday, the birds were singing, and joy was back in our hearts. A new NASCAR season is now upon us, and we could not be happier. We learned over the offseason that if a car gets too torn up that it can not be fixed in five minutes on pit road using original pieces, other than tons of tape, its gets parked.

That’s it! I’ve had enough! I cannot count the times I have heard how NASCAR or the people involved with the sport have placed blame on the lack of attendance, ratings and overall disinterest in NASCAR on drivers retiring or not racing. This week a well-respected publication stated that since Dale Earnhardt Jr. decided to sit out the Advanced Auto Parts Clash on Sunday, that led to a decrease in attendance.