Sprint Cup

NASCAR says Kevin Harvick has clinched at least a wild-card berth in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Harvick was not listed among drivers who had clinched after Saturday night's race at Bristol because there are still scenarios where he could fall outside of the top 10 in points. Further review Monday by NASCAR determined his three victories this season have earned him at minimum one of the two wild cards. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards officially clinched berths on Saturday night.

We maybe a few weeks away from March Madness, but Cinderella's slipper fits NASCAR rookie Trevor Bayne. The famed Wood Brother's 21 had been one of the strongest cars entire Speedweeks. He avoided a record number of cautions in the Great American Race to take the victory in just his second Sprint Cup start. "Wow this is unbelievable," said Bayne. "How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in victory lane? It's unbelievable. I've never raced in a race with this many people here.

Every driver, Down in NASCAR Liked points racing a lot... (okay not so much but work with me here) But Keselowski, Brad Keselowski, Did NOT! Keselowski hated points racing! The NASCAR post-season! Now, please don't ask why, Everyone knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his cars were setup too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that he just liked winning most of all. But, Whatever the reason, His head or his cars, He stood there on Chase Eve, ready to take on NASCAR, Staring up from fourth place, with a his Keselowski frown At the vets and past Champions, who had all been around                                                         For he knew every driver both above and below                                                                        Has plotted a strategy, was ready to go. "And they're hanging new bodies!"

You know what I love about the last men standing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup? How much these two drivers are so different, and yet so much alike. You have Tony Stewart, the unabashed bad boy, who really is a softy at heart. And then there is Carl Edward, who Stewart once called "NASCAR's Eddie Haskell. " Edwards is NASCAR's All-American boy, but he's got a bad boy streak to him. "This is going to be a good competition, you guys," said Edwards. "Don't think for a second that either one of us are going to let anything slide.

Kansas Speedway and several drivers plan to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings during this weekend's NASCAR races. The track is working with NASCAR on a moment of silence before Sunday's Sprint Cup race to remember the three people killed and more than 170 wounded in Monday's blasts. Michael Waltrip, who ran the Boston Marathon in 2000, plans to honor them with special door numbers painted on his three Sprint Cup entries. The numbers will replicate the style of bib numbers pinned on the nearly 30,000 runners in this year's marathon.

Twenty-year-old Trevor Bayne has won the Daytona 500 in only his second Sprint Cup start. Bayne won NASCAR's biggest race Sunday - just one day after his birthday - by holding off Carl Edwards by 0.118 seconds. The kid gave the historic Wood Brothers team its first victory since 2001 and became the youngest Daytona 500 winner. Bayne was pushed by Bobby Labonte and had just enough fuel to get across the line ahead of a hard-charging Edwards. David Gilliland was third and Labonte settled for fourth.

Denny Hamlin won at Texas for the second time this season to take over the lead in the closest three-way Chase for the Sprint Cup yet with two races left. Hamlin moved in front with 29 laps to go, then got a push from Matt Kenseth on the final restart with three laps to go Sunday. Kenseth pushed ahead momentarily before Hamlin got right back in front and went on to his series-best eighth victory of the season. Emporia Native Clint Bowyer finished seventh at the race. His #33 car finished just over 300 laps of the race, but still hangs back 367 points of the Sprint Cup lead.

NASCAR has thrown out the points system used since 1975 in favor of a straight scoring format based on finishing position. NASCAR chairman Brian France made the change official Wednesday night. It will give 43 points to the race winner and decrease through the field down to 1 point for the 43rd-place finisher. The race winner will receive three bonus points. Each driver who leads a lap will receive one bonus point, and the driver who leads the most laps will receive an additional bonus point.

David Ragan has earned the first Sprint Cup victory of his career, redeeming himself after blowing his chance in the season-opening Daytona 500. Ragan was the leader on a late restart in NASCAR's biggest race of the year, but he was penalized for passing too early. That cost him what would have been the biggest win of his career. He redeemed himself Saturday night by outlasting all the mayhem of a typically chaotic race at Daytona International Speedway. He was pushed across the finish line by Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth as a huge wreck developed in the final turn.

Kyle Busch recovered from an early spin to pass Clint Bowyer with seven laps to go and pulled away to win his third consecutive Trucks Series race on Friday night. Hours after capturing the pole for Saturday's All-Star race, Busch outdueled a fellow Sprint Cup regular down the stretch to secure his second straight Trucks win at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his fourth Trucks win of the year, and his 97th victory in NASCAR's top three circuits. Rookie Cole Whitt finished third in the wreck-filled race and took over the points lead.

Kansas Speedway and several drivers plan to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings during this weekend's NASCAR races. The track is working with NASCAR on a moment of silence before Sunday's Sprint Cup race to remember the three people killed and more than 170 wounded in Monday's blasts. Michael Waltrip, who ran the Boston Marathon in 2000, plans to honor them with special door numbers painted on his three Sprint Cup entries. The numbers will replicate the style of bib numbers pinned on the nearly 30,000 runners in this year's marathon.

Brad Keselowski is pretty angry with NASCAR these days.         After another top-10 finish in Texas, the defending Sprint Cup champion says what he's seen lately has him questioning everything he believes in. He's not happy about it. Before Saturday night's race, NASCAR confiscated the original rear-end housing from Keselowski's No. 2 Ford and the No. 22 of Joey Logano, his Penske Racing teammate. That could lead to penalties, including possibly suspensions, the loss of championship points and/or fines.

Saturday night NASCAR drops the green flag on its 2013 season and unveils a new generation of race car. It promises fans a return to the days where race cars were stock cars and looked like the cars we drive every day. The new cars are supposed to look more like the first generation cars, which first hit the track in 1949. See the 6 Generations of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Cars Large scale racing has been around for almost 40 years. But the idea of racing cars straight off the show room floor was relatively new. NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)

Every driver, Down in NASCAR Liked points racing a lot... (okay not so much but work with me here) But Keselowski, Brad Keselowski, Did NOT! Keselowski hated points racing! The NASCAR post-season! Now, please don't ask why, Everyone knows the reason. It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right. It could be, perhaps, that his cars were setup too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that he just liked winning most of all. But, Whatever the reason, His head or his cars, He stood there on Chase Eve, ready to take on NASCAR, Staring up from fourth place, with a his Keselowski frown At the vets and past Champions, who had all been around                                                         For he knew every driver both above and below                                                                        Has plotted a strategy, was ready to go. "And they're hanging new bodies!"

I can remember talking to Clint Bowyer on the NASCAR media tour back in January. And, although he was saying all the right things about the upcoming season, I always kind of felt like he was a little unsure about this new chapter in his life. And who wouldn't be. Bowyer was walking away from one of the most successful organizations in NASCAR history, and joining a group that only had two career wins, and had never even made the chase for the Sprint Cup. In this crazy match game that is the Sprint Cup series, success is as much about good team chemistry, as is it horse power and aerodynamics.

There is always something comfortable and familiar about returning home. And although Clint Bowyer had never raced the Rolling Plains Speedway in Hays before Tuesday night, returning to the dirt tracks in his home state of Kansas, was still like a homecoming. "It's what we grew up doing," said Bowyer. "It's always fun to come back an revisit how you grew up, you know. It me I'm like a kid in a candy store. " Ken Schrader agrees. Though he is from Missouri, not from Kansas, he first visited RPM three years ago. And he jumped at the chance to return to his Midwestern dirt track roots.

Seriously, who saw this coming? Other than Greg Biffle, who actually thought the 16 would lead the points standings for eight of the first 11 weeks of the season? Honestly no one did. But it appears that a combination of finally finding the right crew chief for the Biff and contraction at Roush Fenway Racing, is paying huge dividends for this race team. "I'm having such a great time driving these race cars," Biffle said. "This is what a racecar driver looks forward to in showing up every weekend and having a fast car to drive.

The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Drivers seem to love it, fans not so much. ""I like California," said Denny Hamlin. "I think the track is aging really well. It's getting to where you can run all over from the bottom to the very  top. " And that's a big reason that driver seem to like this track. It's challenging to drive. "That place is tough," said Kyle Busch.  "It's really a hard race track to get ahold of now, especially when it's hot and the sun is out. There are two completely different types of racing when you run the top versus the bottom groove.