NASCAR

7:32 AM ET DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — While the main conversation at Daytona International Speedway this week has revolved around NASCAR’s new Next Gen race car, and rightfully so, another next generational movement is taking place behind the wheel of that car. With all due respect to the machines the sanctioning body has touted as

9:15 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski drove his new team to victory lane Thursday night in a Daytona 500 qualifying race. It was the first win for Keselowski as part-owner of Jack Roush’s organization. The team has been rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, and Keselowski now drives its flagship No.

4:21 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Greg Biffle grabbed a seat on stage and flexed a bicep as he posed for pictures. He smiled, exhaled and summed up his return to Daytona International Speedway in four words: “It’s been a while.” Nearly six years, to be more precise. The former NASCAR Cup

4:21 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Greg Biffle smiled, exhaled and summed up his return to Daytona International Speedway in four words: “It’s been a while.” Nearly six years, to be more precise. The former NASCAR Cup Series regular is trying to make the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2016.

10:33 AM ET DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — As Daytona Speedweeks (OK, it’s actually Speedweek now) have reached full speed leading into Thursday night’s dual 150-mile qualifying races, everyone in the Cup Series garage seems to agree that NASCAR’s newly christened rides, the so-called Next Gen machines, were needed. OK, they agree for the most part.

10:13 PM ET Associated Press DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jacques Villeneuve qualified for his first Daytona 500 then jogged down pit road anxiously searching for his team and a celebration. The 50-year-old former Formula One champion and Indianapolis 500 winner found his partner and lifted her in the air, then he hugged his crew members.

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.” —

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