NASCAR

2:40 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR’s qualifying races likely will be tamer than normal. The Duel at Daytona scheduled for Thursday night — a qualifying event that splits 42 cars into two races and sets much of the starting grid for the season-opening Daytona 500 — could be a watered-down version

7:09 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — No surprise this time. Michael McDowell topped the leaderboard again at Daytona. McDowell opened the first Daytona 500 practice session with a top speed of 192.736 mph, the first time NASCAR showed off its new car at the track ahead of Sunday’s sold-out race. McDowell, last

10:11 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR’s top drivers have once again unified to form an independent council to gain a collective voice in decisions that affect the sport. The Drivers Advisory Council, announced Friday, is a more organized effort than a previous attempt to unify in 2014. A board of directors has

2:21 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jesse Iwuji is a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve who also happens to be juggling a budding NASCAR career. He transitioned between jobs this week when he jetted out of Los Angeles following Navy drills to make it to North Carolina in time to announce his

8:50 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash on Sunday on a temporary quarter-mile track built inside Memorial Coliseum for a made-for-TV spectacular intended to hype NASCAR’s upcoming season. NASCAR moved the Clash to Los Angeles from Daytona International Speedway, its only home since its 1979 inception,

7:31 AM ET “The Colosseum. Oh, you should see the Colosseum, Spaniard. Fifty-thousand Romans. Watching every movement of your sword. Willing you to make that killer blow. The silence before you strike. And the noise afterwards. It rises. It rises up like … like a storm. As if you were the thunder god himself.” —

3:39 PM ET Associated Press CONCORD, N.C. — UFC president Dana White has struck a partnership deal with the Pitbull-owned NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing, starting this week at the exhibition Clash in Los Angeles. White’s Howler Head Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey will serve as primary sponsor of Ross Chastain‘s No. 1 Chevrolet in Sunday’s race

8:31 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Red Farmer, one of the top late-model drivers, and the late Mike Stefanik, considered one of the most talented modified race car drivers to ever get behind a wheel, have been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. They were among the three drivers to be inducted

8:33 AM ET Associated Press Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham will have a boss in the second season of the Superstar Racing Experience, a made-for-CBS all-star summer series coming off a surprisingly strong debut. SRX on Thursday named Don Hawk its first chief executive, a day-to-day role with a job description that covers just about

3:18 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognized early he would never be a seven-time NASCAR champion like his dad. It was unrealistic to believe he would match the late Dale Earnhardt on the track. The Intimidator was tough as nails, didn’t tolerate any nonsense and built a winning resume that

5:01 AM ET Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve will join Netherlands based outfit Team Hezeberg in a bid for a spot on the Daytona 500 starting grid, NASCAR said on Wednesday. The 50-year-old Canadian, winner of the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 F1 drivers crown, took part in preseason testing at the famed

10:09 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR veteran Aric Almirola will retire from competition at the end of the 2022 season to spend more time with his young family. Almirola revealed his plans Monday to the employees at Stewart-Haas Racing at the same time Smithfield Foods announced its 11th season sponsoring the driver.

7:05 PM ET Associated Press KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of one of NASCAR’s best-known families, has died. She was 91. Grandchildren Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller said in a statement that she died Saturday night. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we

2:13 PM ET Associated Press ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — NASCAR champion Kyle Larson‘s first Formula One race was the season finale, and he is as conflicted as anyone over the controversial ending of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton on the final lap Sunday to win the title, but

7:14 AM ET Associated Press NASCAR veteran Landon Cassill will drive for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and is bringing sponsor Voyager Digital with him, which will again pay him entirely in cryptocurrency. Cassill, who has been avid in the the market for several years, pitched NASCAR sponsorship to Voyager CEO Steve

8:32 PM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The GMS Racing majority purchase of Richard Petty Motorsports will be called Petty GMS Motorsports going into next season and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty will be chairman of the new two-car Cup Series team. Petty GMS Motorsports revealed its plans for 2022 at the NASCAR

7:47 PM ET Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chase Elliott held on to one of his NASCAR titles Thursday night when fans voted him most popular driver for the fourth consecutive year. Elliott was both the reigning Cup champion and most popular driver this season, but he was ultimately beaten by new Hendrick Motorsports teammate

11:02 AM ET Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will return practice and qualifying to its weekend schedule for all three national series in 2022 after the on-track activity had been mostly scrapped the past two seasons amid the coronavirus pandemic. NASCAR traditionally hosted three-day weekends for its races but dropped all qualifying and practice