With a true underdog in Marks taking the checkered flag coupled with the absolute insanity that was the race, it's a simple fact that NASCAR needs more road courses. It's been pointed out repeatedly that the Sprint Cup Series is over-saturated with cookie-cutter tracks and the Camping World Truck Series is loafing around with the lone road course at MoSport. Add more road courses to diversify the competition.
Justin Marks conquered the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet to a rain-soaked Victory Lane. The newest track on the XFINITY Series schedule, Mid-Ohio has only hosted four races in the last four seasons but Saturday's race showed that the 2.258-mile road course may be the hardest track on the schedule.
Alon Day will make history Saturday in his XFINITY Series debut at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, becoming the first driver from Israel to make a start in a national series event. The 24-year-old, a 2016 NASCAR Next member, will drive the No. 40 Dodge for MBM Motorsports and is also scheduled to compete at Road America on August 27.
Time to cycle through the transmission for this week's edition of Four Gears. This week, our staff takes a look at some of the hot topics in the world of NASCAR.
Keselowski started 12th and finished third after battling with Martin Truex, Jr. on the final lap at Watkins Glen. Keselowski leads Sprint Cup points standings by nine over Kevin Harvick.
If there is anything we learned from Sunday it's that NASCAR needs more road courses. Hell, just another visit to Watkins Glen would do. On a track that appeared built for the bulky-fendered beasts, with breathtaking aerial camera shots, and with lots going on from start to finish, this is about as good as NASCAR gets.
t's an ugly whirlwind of confusion and emotion and heartbreak. It will never pass over or go away completely. The most it will do is mellow out, maybe subside a bit. But two years, three years down the road our hearts will still be heavy when we think about Clauson and what could have been.
When Carl Edwards first visited Watkins Glen International in 2005, it was for a test session for the Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series cars that he ran for Jack Roush Racing. This writer recalls it fondly because I’ll never forget how wide-eyed and excited he was before he went out on the track.
As hell broke loose behind, Denny Hamlin piloted along and scored the victory in the Empire State. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead with 10 laps to go and survived a myriad of late cautions to win the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen.
The 31-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led a race-high 78 of 120 laps and persevered through a two-lap shootout to win the O'Reilly opener at Daytona for a fourth time in five years.
All six Toyota GR Supras from Joe Gibbs Racing and Sam Hunt Racing failed to finish an incident-filled NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday evening.
Nick Sanchez finished eighth in Stage 1, despite being collected in a multi-car accident coming to the finish line. The damage, however, was enough to force him out of the race in 36th place.
In just his 13th career ARCA Menards National Series start, Truck Series regular Gio Ruggiero earned his first career win in the series at Daytona International Speedway on a late race restart.
The top five speeds in today’s final Daytona 500 practice session were all Ford Mustang Dark Horses, led by the RFK Racing trio of Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski. Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were fourth and fifth, respectively.
