DAYTONA 2017 - Garage Walk Through

Day one at Daytona.  The crews are working to get their cars ready for the first practice for the Advance Auto Parts Clash that runs Saturday.

Check out this walk-thru of the garage...

Championship decided in Sportsman Division at Bowman Gray Stadium

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - It all comes down to this.  One race, double points, 40-laps.  The championship is on the line and it's Tommy Neal leading Zack Clifton by a scant 29 points. And it would be be an uphill challenge for Clifton starting deep in the field with Neal rolling of sixth.

The 75 car of Andrew Durham led the first half of the race with John Holloman IV in hot pursuit, both drivers getting aggressive with Durham blocking Holloman and Holloman vowing to take him out if he blocks again.

Zack Clifton got caught up in a mid race accident in turn 2 and had to rally from the back.



Tommy Neal hovered near the front of the race for the duration.

A multi-car crash in turn 3 with just a couple of laps to go set up the championship finish and the 81 car of Zack Clifton was able to drive through the mess setting up a close championship battle at the end.

Re-starting with a one lap shootout, John Holloman IV take the win with Tommy Neal in 2nd and Zack Clifton finishing 5th.

Tommy, the Tiger, Neal wins his first Sportsman Division Championship at the Madhouse for 2016.

Taylor Robbins wins 3rd race at Bowman Gray - Derrick Rice Champion in Street Stock Division

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - The final race of the season for the Street Stock Division was riddled with story lines.  Who would win the championship? Would Derrick Rice repeat, would Brian Wall be the people's champ again? And could Taylor Robbins pick up her 3rd win in the division, 3rd of the season and be the best driver in the division by virtue of win count.

The answers came after 20-laps of hard racing.  Taylor Robbins started on the pole and held the lead for every single lap.  Brian Wall moved up to 2nd and mad efforts to run her down several times.  Derrick Rice formulated a plan to keep the 22 car of Wall in his sights to protect his margin in the points race.

Robbins won, Wall finished 2nd, and Rice finished 3rd and took the title for the 2nd consecutive year.

Tony Stewart Announces Darlington Throwback Scheme

CHARLOTTE, NC - Tony Stewart just upped the ante for throwback paint schemes for the September 4th running of the Bojangles Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway. The number 14 car will be decked out in the Coca-Cola scheme that graced the car Bobby Allison drove in his wins at the track in 1971-72.

Tony told Dave Moody on Sirius XM Speedway that he knew he wanted this paint scheme and he's glad he was able to get Coke to commit.

DETAILS HERE

Crashing and Bashing at Bowman Gray Stadium

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - It's probably a good thing caution laps don't count in the short features at Bowman Gray Stadium or the racing action this past Saturday night could've run well beyond the city mandated curfew of 11:30. As it was the final race of the night, the chain race, ended at nearly that time.

The drivers completed 200 green flag laps on the this racenight in 5 different divisions and had roughly 22 crashes.

It was a little of everything, from spins with no damage to wham bam thank you maam and into the wall. And for the most part, nobody got really mad.

Earnhardt Jr out - Gordon in for 2 more races

Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona, July 2016. Photo: Chris Weaver

Dale Earnhardt Jr will miss 2 more NASCAR Sprint Cup Races due to concussion like symptoms.


Jeff Gordon will continue to fill in for Dale Jr. this weekend at Watkins Glenn and August 20th at Bristol.

Read More HERE - NASCAR

Earnhardt has been sidelined since the New Hampshire race after

Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing the 88 car at Daytona, July 2016. Photo: Chris Weaver

reporting concussion like symptoms to his doctors. 


He has not been cleared to race because of the issues he describes as balance and gaze issues where he gets dizzy when he tries to focus on a fixed object in the distance but moves his head.

He talks in-depth about the issue on his radio podcast here - Dirty Mo Radio

RaceCar Retaliation at Bowman Gray Stadium

WINTSON-SALEM, NC - They don't call Bowman Gray Stadium "The Madhouse" for nothing. It has a way of bringing out the tempers in even the nicest of guys.

Take John Holloman IV and Robbie Brewer for example, both very nice young men, great race car drivers, both with the will and want to win races. But you can toss that all out the window when, let's call it "Madhouse Fever" strikes.

They've had a few run-ins this season but the events that played out on July 23rd have garnered eyeballs across the nation, on Jalopnik, FoxSports, Reddit and probably more.

John Holloman IV was leading and seemed to have a car that could win except for the fact that Robbie Brewer was closing in quickly.

Brewer had intentions of winning the race himself but may also have had in mind getting payback for this wreck from June 11th.


Brewer hit Holloman in turn 1 to take over the lead but Holloman made it clear in radio chatter that the 68 wouldn't win the race.

He caught up with the 68 and spun him around causing the 68 to have a flat tire. Then the 2 drivers played demolition derby on the front stretch for 30 seconds or so before retreating to the pit area.

Bowman Gray Racing: Summertime Blues and First Time Winner

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - It's the last race before the 4th of July weekend off at Bowman Gray Stadium but the drivers didn't let that keep them from putting on a good show for the thousands of fans.

After a wild demolition derby type race the previous week the Street Stock Division kicked off the night and ran a race so clean Clorox should've been the sponsor. It could have been the result of a stern speech in the driver's meeting or maybe team owners are just tired of spending so much money. Either way, the only action was a spin here and there and only one real case of a driver getting mad at another when Zack Linville chased down Doug Wall after the checkered flag and gave him a moderate love tap at the start finish line. That move drew the ire of starter Randy Smith who was on the track handing the checkered flag to the race winner when the bump occured really close to him. He went to the Linville car and let the driver know that wasn't acceptable. The race was won by Brian Wall, the people's champ, who started on the pole and had a car that was the class of the field. Wall led every lap to win his first feature of the season and went to victory lane to celebrate with his sons.

The Modified Division ran 2 25-lap events. Jason Myers and Tim Brown started on the front row of the first race and Myers quickly grabbed the lead and led wire to wire to grab the win. The Madhouse scramble propelled the Joseph Brown and Ronnie Clifton to the front row for the 2nd race. Clifton and Brown tangled on the start sending Clifton into the turn 4 wall ending his chances for a good run and Brown had a transmission issue that may have contributed to getting turned around late in the race by Michael Clifton. Randy Butner ended a long winless streak picking up the win in the 2nd race.



The Sportsman Division ran a 60-Lap feature with Kevin Neal and Michael Adams pacing the field. A big wreck about halfway through the event took out Mike Robertson, Dylan Ward when Billy Gregg got spun around off the nose of the Ward car. Robertson didn't have any where to go and piled in making hard contact with the Ward car. Kevin Neal held off John Holloman IV on several late restarts to win the Sportsman Feature for the second week in a row.

The Stadium Stock Division saw a first time winner in one of it's 2 features. Robert Strmiska battle with Derek Sheets lap after lap in the closing laps of the first event making an impressive outside pass in turns 3 and 4. The two cars raced to the finish line trading paint and banging tires with Strmiska getting his first ever win at Bowman Gray Stadium.

In the second Stadium Stock race Billy Cameron Jr. grabbed his second win of the season in his Toyota Celica.

Racing will resume at Bowman Gray Stadium on July 9.

Madhouse lives up to it's name with crazy night at Bowman Gray Stadium

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - With an "almost" full moon shining down over Bowman Gray
Stadium Saturday night the drivers were in the mood to race hard and with that comes beating, bumping, banging and plenty of mad drivers and crew members.





Read More Here...

Bowman Gray Racing - Hall of Fame 100 - Good Racing and Tempers Too

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The NASCAR Hall of Fame 100 Modified Race was put off a week after rain delayed the event but this week the skies were clear and the racing was intense.


Tim Brown started on the pole and took the lead on lap one. He was challenged at times by Ronnie Clifton and Michael Clifton but it was Burt Myers who gave Brown the most trouble. Myers in the #1 car was able to get to the bumper of the #83 car time after time but could never mount a run that led to a pass.

Tim Brown led every lap for the win and was greeted in Victory Lane by NASCAR Hall of Famer Jerry Cook.

The Street Stock race was the only race that got any laps in before the rain last week and Taylor Robbins resumed her place as the leader through several green flag runs and restarts until lap 9 when her car quit on her.

Radio communications by Taylor and the crew indicate that she ran out of gas.

Aaron Hylton assumed the lead and went on to win the race.

In the Sportsman Division Michael Adams took victory in the 1st race after nudging Robbie Brewer aside and taking the lead late in the race.

In the 2nd Sportsman Race tempers flared when John Holloman IV got into Robbie Brewer and both cars wrecked down the front stretch. Brewer climbed out of his car after the wreck trying to get to Holloman but track officials held him back.

A firefighter was slightly injured during the melee trying to hold Brewer back when a tow truck hit him on the leg as it pulled up to the scene.

Zack Clifton took the win in the race.

In the Stadium Stock 50-lap event Shane Southard and Brandon Brendle started on the front row. Brendle had brake issues in his #40 car from the very beginning of the race but was able to get the lead and stay there to take the win.

Tempers Flare After Crash at Bowman Gray

John Holloman IV was relegated to the rear of the starting field a couple of times during the 2nd Sportsman race Saturday night. I don't remember how many or why but I remember their in-car communications in reference to just doing it again and we'll pass 'em all.

That was all fine and well, the 4 car cut through the field, running the outside lane a fair amount until he got to Robbie Brewer. Brewer was 2nd and Holloman was third.

Holloman gave Brewer some love taps, some nudges and some rubs. Rubbin's racin', right?

But coming out of turn 4 with a handful of laps to go Holloman laid the bumper to Brewer and the 2 cars were locked together all the way down the front stretch as Brewer spun around, Holloman gassed it to get past but Brewer steered his car toward the 4 car making sure the aggressor didn't get away.

Then Brewer hopped out of his car with a track official, a Winston-Salem Cop and a Winston-Salem Firefighter all holding him back, keeping him from opening up a can of displeasure on JHIV.

The scene went on for almost a minute until a tow truck clipped the leg of the firefighter sending him to the ground, distracting Brewer from his advances on Holloman.

It's pretty much summed up in the video with interesting in-car commentary between and unknown driver and crew chief during the ruckus. (I really don't remember looking at the scanner to see who it was talking.)

Groundhog Day - NASCAR Style

Did you see the video of the groundhog on the track at Pocono?

If you didn't watch....



And then...the man who FINALLY caught the groundhog talks about how he got the varmint.

Radioactive - FoxSports - Pocono

I'm definitely gonna start posting the www.FoxSports.com radioactive segment every week.

Here's the action from Pocono.

Taylor Robbins Talks about Winning at Bowman Gray Stadium

When Taylor Robbins won the Street Stock race at Bowman Gray Stadium on May 14th she became the first woman in 18 years to win at the track and only the 3rd in track history. I took Shelley Roupas to do a sit down interview with Robbins for on of Shelley's "Good For Her" segments.

50 Lap Street Stock Race - 5-28-16

Highlights from the 50-lap Street Stock Race Saturday featuring in-car footage from Taylor Robbins.

The 5 car took the checkered flag but the 30 car ended up the winner after technical inspection.

Martin Truex Jr. Runs Away with the Coca-Cola 600

Martin Truex Jr. ran away with the win at the Coke 600.

It was a jubilant victory lane as the team based in Denver put a whooping on the rest of the NASCAR teams at their home track.

His closest 2 competitors were Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson and all they could do was race one another for 2nd and 3rd.

TEAM FOX8; Oh-No Moments at GoPro Motorplex

More of the "Oh-No Moments" from our shoot at GoPro Motorplex

Karting at GoPro Motorplex; Not as easy as it looks.

When I took a group of reporters and anchors to GoPro Motorplex to shoot a feature piece with them driving against a NASCAR driver...we knew we'd get some action. Here's a quick look.

TEAM FOX8 takes on a NASCAR Driver at the GoPro Motorplex

Thanks to Mike Joy from FOX NASCAR for narrating our feature story with our reporters and anchors taking on a NASCAR driver at the GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville.

This was fun!

Taylor Robbins Wins at Bowman Gray; 1st Female to win since 1998

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- At a track dominated by male egos, in a sport where women have a hard time breaking through, a 21-year-old young lady from Davidson County is doing her part to break that barrier.

Read More - http://myfox8.com/2016/05/16/21-year-old-from-davidson-county-is-first-female-to-win-at-bowman-gray-in-18-years-third-in-track-history/