Ever since 1987, Charlotte has hosted the all-star race. Some, including Kevin Harvick, figure it should be rotated to other venues like those other sports do. I would agree, only if I had a veto as to what tracks it went to. Even then, I am not sure I would ever agree to the change.
When Andrew Murstein entered into negotiations to purchase Richard Petty Motorsports from George Gillett in 2010, he didn’t have to look further than the name of the team to come up with a partner. While the President of Medallion Financial Group was eager to become a sports owner after raising $220 million to establish a sports fund in 2008, he didn’t know much about NASCAR.
Nevertheless, I was pleased to drive Ona because I'd heard that The King himself, Richard Petty, had raced there in the 1960's. So naturally, when Petty showed up at last week's Mecum auction in Houston (which I co-host for NBCSN), I asked him if he remembered racing at “West Virginia International Speedway,” as it was then known.
Jimmie Johnson started at the rear of the field after a spin in Coors Light Pole Qualifying required the team to change tires before the green flag. The seven-time champion passed Joey Logano with 17 laps to go to capture his first win of the season, 81st career and his seventh win at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson led 18 of 334 laps and finished 0.340 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Larson.
Every father who is a NASCAR fan can agree with me on this. You want to pass that love down to your children. You want them to be able to revel in it the way you do. You want them to enjoy the noise, the commotion, the fight of it all. You want them to understand those weekends where you were in front of the television, reading the magazines, or talking about it with your buddies. In short, you want to see them become a fan.
Enough with the contrived fake news. No, I am not talking about folks who think their candidate was robbed for being of a certain gender, or obviously the victim of the actions of a foreign power, or that they lost to someone who just has to be Darth Vader incarnate.
Jimmie Johnson took his seventh Texas Motor Speedway victory and his first victory of 2017 on Sunday, holding off Kyle Larson by 0.340 seconds to win the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500. Johnson, who has struggled mightily in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, also earned his second top-10 of the season.
Elliott, he 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led nine of 60-scheduled laps and fended off Carson Hocevar with eight laps remaining to record his third career Daytona Duel victory.
The three-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led 15 of 63 over-scheduled laps and survived an overtime shootout for his fourth Daytona Duel victory.
Blaney will be right where he wants to be. Being able to put his drafting skills with his strong finishes gives him a great chance of finding his way to the front.
