Marcos Ambrose took the lead with just three laps to go in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen to secure his first career Nationwide Series victory in 59 starts. He received the lead by virtue of Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson running out of fuel in the closing laps in an episode of bitter-sweet redemption after all the tough luck he’s suffered in NASCAR road course racing in 2008. He came close, but eventually took a back seat to Kyle Busch in Mexico City … mechanical issues ended his day in Sonoma when he made his Sprint Cup debut … …read more

Kyle Busch made perfect on his efforts to sweep the road course races in the Sprint Cup Series this season as he nabbed his first career victory at Watkins Glen International on Sunday. He led four times for a race high 52 laps, giving him his 8th win of the season and making him the first driver to win the races at both Infineon and Watkins Glen in the same year since his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, did it back in 2005. He also won the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City earlier in the year, making him …read more

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NASCAR will return to Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL this weekend. Saturday night’s race will mark the eighth trip to Chicagoland for the Sprint Cup Series, and the first NASCAR event there run under the lights. The 1.5 mile tri-oval track has produced only two repeat winner to-date (Kevin Harvick & Tony Stewart), and no driver has ever won the pole here twice. With the points shakeup that occurred as a result of the mele’ at Daytona last week, all eyes are certain to be focused on the Midwest this week with only 8 races …read more

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With only eight races remaining until NASCAR sets the field for their Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2008, only 223 points separates 8th place Kasey Kahne from 18th place Kurt Busch in the points standings. While that may seem like a lot and perhaps too much to overcome for some, keep in mind that at this time last year, those two positions were separated by 416 points, and 18th place at that point time was consumed by Mark Martin, who was running a part-time schedule and had already missed five races. Something …read more

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In the face of all of the scrutiny that has overcome NASCAR’s recent development, the Car of Tomorrow, there have also been quite a few tracks that have seen improved racing this year, largely attributed to the new car. Based on what we’ve seen this season and in the limited number of COT races in 2007, here are the tracks that have seen the most improvement:
5. Phoenix International Raceway – Though the racing was never terrible at Phoenix, it wasn’t great, either. The Subway Fresh Fit 500, however, ranks amongst my favorite races of …read more

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With the Sprint Cup Series now just one week away from reaching the official halfway marker of 2008, DYN is going to take a look at the 5 most disappointing teams and drivers in the series so far this year:
5. Ryan Newman – no. 12 car – Penske Racing – After missing out on the Chase for the Cup playoffs in each of the past two seasons, Newman came into 2008 – his contract year with Penske – with high hopes of finding some of the magic that he and the no. 12 team had a little …read more

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Much to pretty much everyone’s surprise, Patrick Carpentier won his first career Sprint Cup pole award when his no. 10 Gillette-Evernham Dodge turned the fastest lap during Friday’s qualifying session, clocking in at 29.349 seconds. Patrick, whom some people feel may be in danger of losing his ride next season, will start Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway from the pole position, lining up on the front row next to Bobby LaBonte, whose fastest lap came in 0.163 seconds slower than Carpentier.
Lining up on the inside of …read more

Okay, so they’re actually pretty good friends and probably the furthest thing from being rivals with one another, but still. It’s pretty abnormal for Smoke to run this deep into the season without a Sprint Cup win to show for it, but so far in 2008, he’s managed to do just that. Of course, the racing Gods haven’t really seemed to help Stewart out much in that department, either. What … a pit road speeding violation during the last round of stops at Pocono … the cut tire at Charlotte … the late race wreck at Talladega … the mid-race …read more

By now, most of you are probably familiar with the many rumors surrounding the status of Casey Mears and the no. 5 team over at Hendrick Motorsports for 2009. Several sources are indicating that Rick Hendrick may have notified Casey last week that his tenure with HMS was coming to an end at the conclusion of this season, and already, the rumor mill has been lit up once again with all sorts of speculations.
The most intriguing, and for once, make-sense of these rumors comes from Lee Spencer over at Fox Sports, where she throws out the notion that Hendrick may …read more

Through 55 years of racing at NASCAR’s top level, the Wood Brothers have established themselves amongst the all-time winningest teams in the sport’s history with an accumulated 97 wins amongst the organization. The organization has housed such legendary names as Cale Yarbrough, David Pearson, Davey Allison, AJ Foyt, Tiny Lund, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, and Dan Gurney. The team made history in the late 70’s when they were invited to the White House by former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter … Yet, Wood Brothers Racing has not visited Victory Lane since Elliott Sadler’s 2001 win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the …read more