Nascar

Ford Looking For Championships With Upgraded Nascar Lineup

... set by Nair. He wanted new production cars, and succeeded with the GT 350, the Raptor, the Focus RS and the Ford GT. He wanted his sports car program to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year to celebrate Ford's 50 th anniversary victory, and Ford made it happen. "But we've not achieved that goal of a manufacturer's championship. We've not achieved that goal of the driver's championship," Nair said. "I would say both are important. For us as a manufacturer, obviously, the fight with Chevy and Toyota is really important, but the driver's championship is equally as important.". Ford has improved its lineup over the years by adding Team Penske to stalwart Roush-Fenway Racing, and the Penske group has accounted for most of Ford's success the last few years. Richard Petty Motorsports, Front Row Motorsports, Go Fas Racing and Tri Star Motorsports also field Fords. "We brought Penske on board and ...

Louisville Nascar Driver Rhodes Feels Urgency To Win Races In 2017

... with Thor Sport in 2017, he says little about his racing program will be the same. The number on his truck, 41 last year but 27 this season, is among the changes. Eddie Troconis , who was crew chief for Cameron Hayley as he put up six top-5 finishes last season in trucks, will be atop the pit box for Rhodes this year. “Everything is brand new. That was pretty much the reason for staying there, that everything would be brand new and different from last year,” Rhodes said. “We really need to make a big change because last year’s performances were not anywhere what we wanted or expected.”. NASCAR’s new points system, with races divided into three segments and points awarded to the winners of the segments, seems designed to encourage more driver aggression. Yet Rhodes thinks an area he needs to improve on from 2016 is better regulating his on-track aggressiveness. “You need to be patient in the sense that, when you move people (so you can pass them), you need to do it ...

Jeff Gluck Still On Nascar Beat Under Different Format

... is suing for $31 million for the final two years the sponsor owed on their contract. • Longtime NHRA Pro Stock competitor Gordie Rivera passed away earlier in the week from a heart attack. He was 73. Rivera, who was from Yuma, competed in the class for five decades, reaching a national event finals just once in 1990 in the Arizona Nationals. He won the Winternationals in a sportsman category in 1969. • Wet weather has forced the postponement of the Lucas Oil regional off road series opener this Sunday at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. The event will be made up at a later date. • Three motocross racers originally from San Bernardino County are in the AMA Monster Energy top 20 after six races on the 18-race schedule. Blake Baggett (KTM) of Grand Terrace is tied for 11 th with Ken Roczen with 51 points, five better than Josh Grant (Kawasaki), formerly of Redlands. Mike Alessi (Honda), who is from Victorville, is 20 th with 11 points as the series heads to Minneapolis this week. • In a totally unexpected move, Danielle Trotta has resigned from her role covering NASCAR for Fox Sports 1. She was on ...

The Clash At Daytona Gets Nascar Season Started Saturday Night

... they don't like to run a whole lot of practice because they tear up race cars and then you're building another race car that you really don't need to.". The 75-lap race will be broken into a 25-lap segment and then a 50-lap segment. Unlike when NASCAR goes racing "for real," the laps between the stages won't count. What to watch for when the green flag drops at 8:24 p.m. ET Saturday. 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ; oh, wait. Earnhardt opted not to do the Clash even though he is qualified for it as a past winner. He won't race because, he said, he wanted his 2016 substitute driver Alex Bowman , who won a pole at Phoenix, to race - and race with the crew he won the pole with while Earnhardt missed races with a concussion. Editor's Picks. If you weren't paying much attention during NASCAR's offseason, you have a lot to catch up on before Saturday night's exhibition Clash. New points, new rules, new faces and a new sponsor. Ready. 1 Related. Theoretically, Earnhardt and Bowman both could have raced, as Hendrick driver Kasey Kahne didn't qualify for the field. But with Kahne's car and crew having an association with Farmers Insurance ...

What Is Danica Patrick’s Future With Stewart-haas Racing

... or for that matter in NASCAR, depends on funding. Just as many things center around in the sport. She remains a marketable driver whose appeal extends outside the world of motorsports, but companies are going to want more than a recognizable name and social media posts. And that means she must evolve into a driver who runs and finishes near the front with greater frequency. Because if Patrick cannot perform on the track or draw the necessary sponsorship, then SHR certainly will have no shortage of candidates who can do one or the other — and maybe even both. I have a hypothetical about Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Carl Edwards’ retirement. If Jones wasn’t already set to join Furniture Row Racing would he have replaced Edwards or would Suarez still be the choice? It seems like Joe Gibbs Racing would’ve had a tough decision to make and whomever wasn’t picked would have hurt feelings and created a rift. That Jones was already locked into joining FRR certainly made JGR and Toyota’s decision clear-cut, allowing the avoidance of any hurt feelings. Now if Jones wasn’t headed to FRR and set to stay in the Xfinity Series for another season, it certainly ...

No. 5, Chip Ganassi Racing

... Lawdermilk/Getty Images. • 2009, 2013 NMPA Writer of the Year. • More than 25 years experience covering motorsports. The seventh installment in a series of 11 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team previews ahead of the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. Chip Ganassi Racing. Drivers (crew chiefs): Kyle Larson (Chad Johnston), Jamie Mc Murray ( Matt Mc Call ). 2016's top finisher: Kyle Larson (9 th). 2016 Grade: B-. Team Preview: No. 6, Furniture Row Racing. Furniture Row Racing was good in 2016 with Martin Truex Jr. leading the way. Will the addition of Erik Jones - at least for this year - take it even higher. Outlook: The Chip Ganassi mantra on social media is #ILike Winners. so that begs the question, is Ganassi's NASCAR Cup program winning? Some would say not much considering Larson won once and Mc Murray didn't win at all last year. But putting two drivers into NASCAR's version of the playoffs was a positive for the organization, which has been a tick behind. The team will need to win more ...

Competitive Fire Still Burns Bright For Nascar Champion Jimmie Johnson

... with his career and a sense of closure as reasons to step away from his professional life’s work. Even if Rosberg and other athletes such as NFL great Peyton Manning left while on top of their respective mountains, Johnson says winning another championship wouldn’t necessaarily encourage him to retire immediately. "I think every athlete would love to have that moment," Johnson said on Saturday during a media roundtable at Daytona International Speedway. "When the fire goes out is the tricky part. I think Carl (Edwards) and Nico were surprises because they were both so competitive and young. "I feel like Peyton was still on the fence for a little while and the fire was still burning, but maybe age or injury kind of forced him consider it. I've been very fortunate to not have anything like that come up. If I can time it that way, great, but I'm more ...

Nascar To Crack Down On Prerace Violations With Tougher Penalties

... measurement, height and weight of the car. And if a team fails a technical inspection station, it must now restart the process from the beginning instead of at the station it failed. NASCAR is also condensing the tiered penalty structure from six levels to two - identified as L 1 and L 2. These violations involve the chassis, engine, electronic fuel injection, fuel, missing lug nuts, tires, the measurement, height and weight of the car, and telemetry, all of which will be classified after a race’s completion with any penalties announced later. An L 2 penalty is considered the most severe. Other rule revisions of note announced on Thursday. - Any driver involved in an accident must report to the in-field care center and undergo a medical evaluation if their car is not repairable. Previously a driver involved in an accident was not subject to a medical evaluation if they could drive their car to the garage. - Only six crew members are permitted over the pit wall to work on a damaged car, plus an additional crew member to focus solely on the windshield and driver. Too many crew members over the wall will ...

From An Incredible Career, Mario Andretti's Daytona 500 Win Still Stands Out

... the engine in Pearson's Dodge blew up after 159 laps. That made it a two-man race between Andretti and Fred Lorenzen , his Holman & Moody teammate. Mario was leading when the duo made their final pit stops on Lap 163, but much to his displeasure, he exited the pits in second place. Andretti believes he was held on the jack for an additional 5-10 seconds in an effort to give the advantage to Lorenzen, whom he described as "Ford's golden boy.". While Mario is reluctant to say that Ford tried to throw the race in Lorenzen's favor, Jones is willing to do so. "I don't think I've ever seen a team not want its driver to win, but Holman & Moody wanted Fred to win that day, and they tried to keep the win from Mario," Jones remarked. "Mario was not a Southern boy like Fred or most of the other NASCAR drivers in the race. "When he won, it was ...

Bowyer Out To Revive Nascar Career As Stewart's Replacement

... shiny Ford Fusion, one adorned with Stewart's beloved No. 14 on the side, when practice for the Daytona 500 begins on Saturday. It's fair to ask Bowyer, after failing to run well for such a long stretch, if he still knows his way to victory lane. "Hey, that's a real legitimate question," Bowyer said. "You just don't know. I think the last time I was in a good car, I was good. I think that I'm a smarter driver than I was three years ago. I think I'm plenty capable of winning races. I love what I see at Stewart-Haas, I really do believe if I'm going to win a race this is the exact team I'm going to win with. "Wouldn't it be awesome if it was the Daytona 500? So I can stop answering that damn question?". Bowyer is one of the skilled plate racers in NASCAR and he can typically rise to the challenge of a tight pack and split-second decision making. He's a two-time winner at Talladega and has three top-five finishes at Daytona. It makes Daytona International Speedway probably the best place for him to debut with a new team ...