April 9, 2020 Staff Report NASCAR Wire Service Earlier this year, as Denny Hamlin piloted his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry to his third career Daytona 500 victory, fundamental concepts of aerodynamics were at play as his car surpassed 200 miles per hour – speeds routinely achieved by NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Daytona International Speedway. For 500 miles on race day, the “Three Ds of Speed” – drafting, downforce and drag – each had a role in Hamlin’s historic drive to Victory Lane at the World Center of Racing. In 2015, the parallels between stock car racing and STEM education (Science,…

March 7, 2020 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – From race winner Brandon Jones’ standpoint, it’s too bad there wasn’t a bounty on Kyle Busch in Saturday’s LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix Raceway. Buoyed by a strong run through Turns 3 and 4, Jones shot past Busch into the lead on the frontstretch on Lap 181 and pulled away to win by 3.556 seconds over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Harrison Burton, who passed Busch on Lap 190 for the runner-up position. Next weekend at Atlanta, there will be a $100,000 bounty on Busch in the Gander RV & Outdoors…

March 1, 2020 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Alex Bowman had a new nose for the finish line Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet—a sleeker version of the Camaro with a new front fascia—Bowman ran away with the final stage of the Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track in the Inland Empire. In picking up his second career victory and his first at Fontana, Bowman led five times for 110 of the 200 laps in the third NASCAR Cup event of the season. He grabbed the top spot on Lap 133,…

Feb. 29, 2020 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Holding off teammate Riley Herbst with a determined run over the final 19 laps, 19-year old rookie Harrison Burton charged to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Working his way through traffic in the closing laps in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Burton beat Herbst’s No. 18 Camry to the finish line by .455 seconds, with Austin Cindric trailing the winner by .642 seconds in third. The victory was redemption of sorts for Burton, son of former NASCAR…

February 23, 2020 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – In a final two-lap scramble that ended with a multicar crash on the frontstretch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Joey Logano found a way to defend last year’s victory in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 NASCAR Cup Series race. Logano sped away after a restart on Lap 266 of 267 and led runner-up Matt DiBenedetto to the finish under caution to win for the second time at Las Vegas, the first time this season and the 24th time in his career, breaking a tie with Ricky Rudd for 35th all-time. Logano was…

February 23, 2020 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Before the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season started, Chase Briscoe suggested he could win as many as eight to 10 races this year. In Sunday’s rain-delayed Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Briscoe got No. 1 in his second start of the season, winning the battle between the only two Fords in the race. The driver of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Mustang held the lead after the final restart on Lap 170 of 200 and won going away, beating fellow Ford driver Austin Cindric to the finish…