t was announced Friday that Brian Vickers would be filling in for Tony Stewart in the Sprint Unlimited as well as the Daytona 500. It’s an exciting prospect for Vickers whose NASCAR career has stalled due to a medical condition that requires him to periodically take blood thinners. It’s also an opportunity that could lead to re-establishing Vickers as a marketable driver.
It’s a big shock to me. I have been trying to word a column about Wood Brothers Racing which came from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour a couple of weeks ago, and then the news of the Charter system came down and everything said just went away.
This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads down to Daytona International Speedway to kick off the annual ritual of Speedweeks. This consists of 10 days of activity that culminates on Feb. 21 with the 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. But before we officially start the season, we need to get back into the racing mindset. To do that, we run the Sprint Unlimited.
NASCAR returns this week with the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Raceway Saturday night followed by Sprint Cup qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. FOX will provide television coverage for both events while all practices can be seen on FS1. Please see the complete schedule and the driver lineup for the Sprint Unlimited below.
Sometimes you earn by doing, sometimes you earn by succeeding. In NASCAR, perseverance seems to trump performance as it announced the Charter teams heading into 2016 and beyond. It has everything to do with how tenacious a team has been in at least attempting to run, and absolutely nothing to do with their success, be it yesterday, today, or even at some future date.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will now have a "franchise" system that goes into effect this weekend. It's a change from the independent contractor model that had been in place since the sports inception.
Starting in ten days, just about every week the engines will roar to life and 43 cars will take the green flag. However, we all know that not all race drivers and teams are created equal.
I loved watching Cale Yarborough in the No. 11 and Richard Petty piloting the No. 43. How I miss seeing Dale Earnhardt in that black No. 3. I wish I could see Rusty Wallace again in that blue deuce though my reasoning is that him driving means there was no way in hell he would be announcing.
The East Tennessee State University Buccaneers will open their Southern Conference portion of play against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Bristol Motor Speedway. The game will take place on Sept. 17.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones (second) and Christopher Bell (third) delivered podium finishes to lead Toyota in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday evening.
23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington Raceway.
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse – “I thought it was really smooth. It looks like Chris is qualified right next to me. I felt like I got all it had. We know the cars are gonna be very difficult to drive and that did not disappoint.”
