February 21, 2021 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second consecutive week, Daytona International Speedway crowned a first time NASCAR Cup Series race winner. Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Christopher Bell, earned the honor Sunday on the track’s road course, taking the lead from Joey Logano with two laps to go and pulling away to a comfortable 2.119-second victory over the former series champion. Bell, 26, is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and this is his second season at the premier level – his first driving for the championship Gibbs organization. His work Sunday,…

February 20, 2021 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Ty Gibbs turned in a historic NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday night, the 18-year-old won in his first series start – holding off reigning champion Austin Cindric on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. Gibbs took the lead on a restart in double overtime and held off the field by a comfortable 1.726-seconds at the finish line, dropping to his knees to reflect after climbing out of his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – a car owned by his grandfather, NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. With his win in the Super…

February 19, 2021 By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Ben Rhodes wrapped up a perfect pair of race outings at Daytona International Speedway answering his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory on the oval last week with a dramatic win Friday night on the infield road course. It took three overtime starts to secure the victory over 2020 series champion Sheldon Creed, but Rhodes’ work in the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota marked only the third time in series history a driver has opened the season with back-to-back wins. And it marked the 200th victory for Toyota in the NASCAR Camping World…

February 15, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service In a stunning upset at the end of an action-filled, rain-interrupted Daytona 500, Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory after charging into the lead during a brutal multicar wreck in Turn 3 on the final lap. “I can’t believe it,” McDowell said. “I’ve got to thank God. So many years of just grinding it out, hoping for an opportunity like this. I’ve got to thank (team owner) Bob Jenkins for giving me this opportunity. I’m so thankful. “What a great way to get a first victory—in…

February 13, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service Austin Cindric took up where he left off in 2020. The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion held off Brett Moffitt and Harrison Burton in a two-lap NASCAR Overtime dash to win Saturday’s action-filled Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway, the season-opener. Cindric, who locked up the Xfinity title by winning in his last outing at Phoenix Raceway in November, picked up his first victory on the 2.5-mile Daytona oval and the ninth of his career in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. “What an awesome race,” said Cindric, who…

February 12, 2021 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service With a gaggle of trucks wrecking behind him as the field approached the finish line, Ben Rhodes shot past Cory Roper in the tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway to win Friday night’s NextEra Energy 250, the 2021 season-opener for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. With a decisive push from ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton on the final lap of an overtime shootout, Rhodes had more than enough momentum to charge past Roper in the final 400 yards. Likewise, Jordan Anderson blew past Roper into second place, .036 seconds behind the winner, as…