Motor Sports for Lynchburg News Advance

Darlington appears to be lightning fast

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:50:00 EDT

DARLINGTON, S.C. - Speed, speed, speed. New asphalt here, and these guys are making the most of it. Fast.

Junior sees similarities between his dad, Busch

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:42:00 EDT

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. readily embraced Thursday the notion that a rivalry now exists between he and Kyle Busch.

Mears says inconsistency is biggest problem

Fri, 09 May 2008 10:13:01 EDT

DARLINGTON, S.C. - It’s not just the game of dominos that Tony Stewart started a few weeks ago, by mulling over his own future, but the month of May traditionally is a crucial month for NASCAR drivers and crew chiefs who haven’t won much lately, in part because sponsors are always hungry for more.

Gordon annoyed, but says things will improve

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:47:00 EDT

CHARLOTTE - Jeff Gordon seems to be getting a bit testy these days.

Intensity Ratcheted Up, Indy Readies For Pole Day

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:15:00 EDT

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a fitting choice as honorary starter for the 92nd Indianapolis 500. America’s most famous race should offer up its best and most interesting fight in 13 years.

Busch, Earnhardt won’t dwell on altercation

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:34:00 EDT

CONCORD - Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated Cinco de Mayo yesterday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with a long, hot day of testing NASCAR’s new winged car, not just for next week’s Sprint All-star race and the following week’s 600, but for the rest of the upcoming mid-sized tracks on the NASCAR tour.

Darlington president says new surface won’t be problem

Wed, 07 May 2008 04:39:00 EDT

DARLINGTON — With a new track surface, Darlington Raceway president Chris Browning might be a little concerned about the upcoming race week.

Good qualifying paying off for Ragan

Tue, 06 May 2008 19:36:00 EDT

For David Ragan, being up front is starting to pay off.

Unapologetic Busch riles Junior Nation

Sun, 04 May 2008 21:01:00 EDT

RICHMOND — Kyle Busch has been the villain before. But he’s about the feel the wrath of the biggest, baddest fan base NASCAR has ever seen. He’ll have to answer to Junior Nation now.

Bowyer capitalizes on mishaps

Sat, 03 May 2008 22:53:00 EDT

RICHMOND — A double-dose of heartbreak opened things up for an unforgettable finish in Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Hamlin’s sitting on pole in Richmond

Fri, 02 May 2008 23:02:00 EDT

RICHMOND — Denny Hamlin, who grew up near Richmond International Raceway, won the pole for Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the .75-mile D-shaped oval.

Hamlin wins in Richmond

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:58:00 EDT

RICHMOND — Denny Hamlin doesn’t care if it was only a NASCAR Sprint Cup undercard. His win Friday night in the Nationwide Series Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond International Raceway was pretty darn special.

Roush Fenway seems to put less effort into Biffle

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:04:00 EDT

While Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth garnered much attention inside a busy garage at Talladega Superspeedway last Friday, an unusually low-keyed Greg Biffle stared into the distance, looking somewhat envious.

Earnhardt now two years removed from last win

Fri, 02 May 2008 15:53:00 EDT

RICHMOND, Va.- Dale Earnhardt Jr. will reach a dubious milestone at Richmond International Raceway this weekend - the two-year mark since his last victory on NASCAR’s Cup tour.

Woman racer says give NASCAR a break

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:22:00 EDT

Patty Moise was a regular on NASCAR’s Busch tour for almost 10 years, and drove in six Cup races along the way. Popular and personable (enough to get a few TV jobs), she never quite made it over the hump, but she was competent, rugged and dogged about it, running her own team for a while.

Without even trying, Busch getting his point across

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:12:01 EDT

Kyle Busch could gloat, or at least throw out a few digs.

Hamlin running strong toward homecoming

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:43:00 EDT

Richmond, this weekend’s Sprint Cup tour stop, will be homecoming for Denny Hamlin, one of the hot drivers this season, and now a driver who appears to have put all his bad luck behind him.

Female drivers taking off … except in NASCAR

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:40:00 EDT

Hey, maybe Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards has a sister.

Elledge helps Montoya show improvement

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:10:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Juan Pablo Montoya was back on his A game in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499, and new crew chief Jimmy Elledge gets some of the credit.

Another Busch win has Gibbs team upbeat

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:25:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Kyle Busch once again upstaged the man Rick Hendrick hired to replace him — Dale Earnhardt Jr. —to win Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Speedway, for so long a doomsday track for Busch.

Soaring gas prices are making it tougher for fans to hit the road for NASCAR races

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:14:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Parking the RV against the fourth-turn fence: $600.

NASCAR NOTEBOOK: Gibbs Wants Stewart Back

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:19:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Joe Gibbs Racing may be willing to open the vault to keep Tony Stewart, but an ownership stake probably won’t be part of any offer.

Busch wins at Talladega

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:30:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - So the ‘best driver in NASCAR’ got another win. And Kyle Busch did it by outfoxing Jimmie Johnson, a cool trick in itself.

Stewart not talking, but agent might be

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:37:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still winless. And so is Jeff Gordon.
But this week part of the focus may be moving toward Tony Stewart, who is also winless this season, coming to a track where he has finished second so many times but has never won.

Stewart ponders ownership deal

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:33:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - Tony Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup champion, acknowledged Thursday that he is considering several offers to become an owner of a stock-car team, thus raising the possibility that he might opt out of the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Earnhardt focused on consistency

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:00 EDT

TALLADEGA, Ala. - If Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting frustrated by his long losing streak—next week it will be precisely two years since his last tour win—he’s hiding it well. Maybe that’s because it’s clear he’s probably going to win this season, perhaps several times, and his focus thus is more on consistency, making the Chase for the Sprint Cup and having a good shot at winning the championship.

Busch has been hottest driver in NASCAR this year

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:06:00 EDT

It was rough and dirty down in Mexico City on Sunday.

Veteran racers continue to chase their dreams

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:17:00 EDT

A horsepower of 600 is what it takes to get the No. 44 car around the track.

Wheeler plans something special for all-star race

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:06:00 EDT

CHARLOTTE - You’ll have to pardon Charlotte promoter Humpy Wheeler for having mixed emotions about Danica Patrick’s historic IndyCar tour victory on Sunday.

Women in NASCAR: A second look

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Maybe it’s time to dust off Erin Crocker and give her another chance, and drag Sarah Fisher back to NASCAR and give her another look, now that Danica Patrick, with her first Indy-car victory, in the Japan 300, has put women-in-racing front and center again.

Commentary: It’s Time For A New NASCAR Drug Policy

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:59:00 EDT

For a long time, the drug-abuse problems that tarnished the images of other professional sports rarely touched NASCAR.

Most top drivers sitting out Mexico race

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:15:00 EDT

At one time, when NASCAR men talked about South of the Border they probably were talking about the tourist stop off Interstate 95 south of the North Carolina border.

Ex-driver, 73, shows Edwards some moves

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:27:00 EDT

DARLINGTON - Being away from racing hasn’t hurt David Pearson’s competitive desire.

Drivers prepare for annual trip to Mexico

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:07:00 EDT

This is a good week to consider NASCAR’s foreign policy, and its view of NAFTA, or, well, maybe just an update on Brian France’s five-years-long Hispanic initiative, highlighted by NASCAR’s annual Mexico City race.

After Phoenix, several drivers facing difficulties

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:28:00 EDT

NASCAR’s stop at Phoenix International Raceway was filled with more than enough issues and miscues to keep half the stock-car teams and officials and TV execs scratching their heads for another week.

Newman gets 25-point deduction

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:12:00 EDT

Ryan Newman and crew chief Roy McCauley got hit by NASCAR with penalties Tuesday for their Dodge being too high on the right-rear quarterpanel in post-race inspection after they finished fourth in the Texas Samsung 500.

Samsung 500:A bad day for some big names

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:29:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Samsung 500 was a disastrous day for many of the sport’s biggest stars.

Scary crash highlight of McDowell’s Cup Series intro

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:22:00 EDT

You would be hard-pressed to find a more inauspicious beginning to a NASCAR Sprint Cup racing career than the one Michael McDowell has had.
It started with the Michael Waltrip Racing rookie failing to move over for Jeff Burton on March 30 at Martinsville when Burton was racing for the win and McDowell was racing to be the first car one lap down. He finished 26th after a late spinout.

Edwards running strong

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:25:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - Standing almost alone, in the center of a whirlwind of driver complaints about ill-handling cars, Carl Edwards was, well, simply glowing.

Texas left some drivers with trouble

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:58:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Samsung 500 was a disastrous day for many of the sport’s biggest stars.

Edwards back in winner’s circle

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:17:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - Carl Edwards was back in form against yesterday, and back on the NASCAR championship trail, dominating another mid-sized track Sprint Cup event and winning his third race of the season.

Separation of powers

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:29:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - NASCAR’s new-car project completes its first year on the track this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, another very fast intermediate track. So where have the cards fallen so far, at the first three mid-size tracks?

Kahne hopes to recapture magic

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:22:00 EDT

Kasey Kahne knows his way around Texas Motor Speedway. In his first Cup start there, he finished second to Emporia native, and future teammate, Elliott Sadler.

Schrader’s team taking two-week hiatus

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:12:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - Call it a strategic retreat, but it’s clearly more bad news for NASCAR execs - another Sprint Cup team is hitting the shoals, the Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau team and driver Ken Schrader, who just decided to “skip” the NASCAR tour’s next two races, here at Texas Motor Speedway and next week at Phoenix International Raceway.

Roush’s Fords seem likely to dominate

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:05:00 EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas - With 13 different winners in the past 14 Sprint Cup races at Texas, predicting who might win Sunday’s Samsung 500 doesn’t look easy - but take Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards against the field, and you’ll probably have a winner.

Commentary: New IRL no threat to NASCAR

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:12:00 EDT

MARTINSVILLE - A crowd of about 50,000 - mediocre by NASCAR standards - turned out for the Goody’s 500 on a drizzly, 40-degree Sunday.

Fans stayed away in droves

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:08:00 EDT

MARTINSVILLE - Just a look at all those empty seats in these grandstands made it clear that Sunday’s Goody’s 500 should be a wake-up call for NASCAR executives and the France family, which owns Martinsville Speedway.

Hamlin gets first win in Va.

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:19:01 EDT

MARTINSVILLE — Perhaps the gloomy days are a thing of the past for Denny Hamlin and his race team.

Sprint Cup preview: Martinsville

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:33:00 EDT

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series races at 22 tracks, and only one was part of the sanctioning body’s first season in 1948: Martinsville Speedway. The paper clip-shaped .526-mile oval - site of Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500 - is located in tiny Martinsville (population 15,000) and seats 65,000.

Eight Toyotas safely in field

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:29:00 EDT

Martinsville Speedway has been a stop on the NASCAR schedule since 1948, but it feels much different to several teams this week.

Roush’s teams struggle at Martinsville

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:58:00 EDT

The last time the NASCAR tour stopped at Martinsville, Matt Kenseth wound up dodging an angry Carl Edwards, in one of the more surprising post-race moments of the season, considering that they are teammates.

Mears hopes early racing woes are behind him

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:39:00 EDT

Casey Mears is just one of several NASCAR drivers whose season so far has been filled with question marks.

Daytona debut behind him, Sam Hornish Jr. takes time to play Mr. Mom

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:01:00 EDT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - There was no time for Sam Hornish Jr. to celebrate his 15th-place showing in Daytona 500. The open-wheel star had to hustle back to Ohio to pitch in on diaper duty.

NASCAR’s ‘real’ season begins this weekend

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:57:00 EDT

FONTANA, Calif. - Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart all get second chances here this weekend, after their Daytona disappointments, and so will Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, and all those Ford drivers missing in action during Speedweeks.

Brian Vickers leads NASCAR’s growing green movement

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:47:00 EDT

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The NASCAR garage area is filled with snorting 850-horsepower engines that get five miles per gallon on a good day and gruff crew guys who sip coffee out of one plastic foam cup and spit tobacco juice into another.
It’s not the most likely environment for an environmentalist.

Ryan Newman’s dad plays key role in son’s career and biggest win

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:43:00 EDT

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Greg Newman could hardly wait for his son to get tall enough to sit behind the wheel of a go-kart and learn about competition.
The father’s dream of being a race car driver had ended early, but the birth of his son gave him another chance.

Compton joins Hamilton’s truck series team

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:01:00 EDT

Local NASCAR veteran Stacy Compton has worked out a deal to become an ownership partner in Bobby Hamilton Racing's Craftsman Truck Series team, and he will drive its No. 4 CTS Dodge full time this season.