Richard Childress made sure his grandsons, Austin and Ty Dillon, learned how to race the right way.
The first times I encountered the sons of Mike and Tina Dillon were at 311 Speedway in Madison, N.C., where, several times a colleague and I drove down on a Martinsville, Va., NASCAR weekend to watch the Dillon boys race on dirt.
Childress and his son-in-law brought the boys along slowly. Both have Monster Cup rides now, and Austin just put Childress's No. 3 back in victory lane at the Daytona 500. I was on hand last May to watch Austin win the Coca-Cola 600, another famous race, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, has never won the Daytona 500.
He came close two years ago, trailing Denny Hamlin across the line by inches. A lot has happened since then. No one has had a breakout like Hamlin's in 2017 since Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in Papillon.
This year's 500 will mark Truex's 442nd Cup start. In the 36 he made last year, he collected 55.3 percent (8) of his victories, 34.2 percent (2,253) of his laps led, 28.4 percent (19) of his top-five finishes, 20 percent (3) of his poles and 16.3 percent (26) of his top 10s, all in 8.2 percent of his races.
Ryan Blaney made a move he was certain would fail and it didn't.
Thanks to the move working, Blaney won the first Can-Am Duel which puts him into the third starting position for the 60th running of the Daytona 500.
“It’s nice to get the year started off well,” stated Blaney after climbing from his Menard's Ford in victory lane. “It’s not the (Daytona) 500. You never know what can happen on Sunday. We came close in the Clash and I didn’t make a good move and I kind of lost that race. I learned a little bit and I thought about that forever. I thought we learned a little bit from our mistakes. It’s so nice to bring the 12 car back to victory lane. Hopefully, we can make it another one here on Sunday. That would be the one that counts.”
Kaz Grala has multiple reasons to be excited as he prepares for the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
The most current reason is his goal to perform professionally in Saturday's xFinity Series 300 mile race earning the respect of veteran drivers in the field. Oh, and should he win the race his record will show he is 2-0 at the 2.5 mile superseedway which also happens to be where he has run in the Rolex 24 race.
The following is a question and answer with NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. The 37-year-old Mayetta, N.J. native will be competing in Sunday’s 60th running of the Daytona 500, driving the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota for Furniture Row Racing at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.
Truex was in position to win the past two Daytona 500s. He lost to Denny Hamlin in 2016 by one-hundredth of a second, which is the closest finish in the race’s history. Last year he had the lead with two laps remaining, but slid back to 13th as a result of running out of fuel.
America is poised on the cusp of NASCAR. Not as much of America realizes the literally earth-shaking significance of this. The Daytona 500 has never been as significant as now, though, because many people who used to look forward to the entire season now look forward merely to the opening act.
NASCAR is an aging actor with a new role, hoping that his reputation can be restored.
At the post office, someone asks me, "Who you reckon's gonna win the 500 this year?"
WIX® Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products, has joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) as key technical partner and the team’s official filter. WIX Filters will be outfitted on all SHR’s racecars, with the championship-winning NASCAR team fielding four entries in the elite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and two entries in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
“We are thrilled to become the official filters of Stewart-Haas Racing this year,” said Jennifer Gibson, brand manager, WIX Filters. “We have a strong history with the SHR team and this partnership is a continuation of WIX’s commitment to NASCAR. We’re looking forward to adding to even more of that history as the 2018 season unfolds.”
But Friday is when the engines really get fired up full throttle, and the green flag flies in furious fashion, with the 52nd running of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna. Nine nights of racing, highlighted by the opening event of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season, and including the traditional Super Late Model and tour-type Modified events will complement Speedweeks at nearby Daytona International Speedway and leading up to the 60th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18.
Technically, the NASCAR race season is already underway.
Jeff Choquette grabbed a pair of Super Late Model wins last month at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, and Chris Eggleston walked away the big winner at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway to close out January.
But Friday is when the engines really get fired up full throttle, and the green flag flies in furious fashion, with the 52nd running of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna. Nine nights of racing, highlighted by the opening event of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season, and including the traditional Super Late Model and tour-type Modified events will complement Speedweeks at nearby Daytona International Speedway and leading up to the 60th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18.
NASCAR today announced the 2018 stage lengths for its three national series, looking to build on last season’s successful debut of the race format.
In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, all 2018 stage lengths will remain consistent with 2017. The race and stage lengths for the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course race in the Playoffs will be announced at a later date.
Richard Childress made sure his grandsons, Austin and Ty Dillon, learned how to race the right way.
Kaz Grala has multiple reasons to be excited as he prepares for the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. 
WIX® Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products, has joined Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) as key technical partner and the team’s official filter. WIX Filters will be outfitted on all SHR’s racecars, with the championship-winning NASCAR team fielding four entries in the elite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and two entries in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.
