Author Archives: NASCAR.COM - Sprint Cup Series Headlines

The near-misses keep mounting as for a third consecutive week, members of the red-and-white squad had a chance for a win spoiled in the final laps.

Denny Hamlin didn't win this weekend at Darlington Raceway. But a pair of second-place finishes left him content leaving NASCAR's oldest, and arguably most difficult, major speedway.

As Jimmie Johnson worked to save fuel and hang onto first place in the final laps of the Bojangles Southern 500 on Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, Tony Stewart lurked behind, waiting to take advantage if Johnson ran out of gas.

A collision on pit road, a scuffle and hard feelings lingering after the Southern 500. Just another Saturday night at Darlington Raceway.

As the leaders battled for the checkered flag in the Bojangles' Southern 500 Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, Danica Patrick continued her race to 2013.

As the leaders battled for the checkered flag in the Bojangles' Southern 500 Saturday night at Darlington Raceway, Danica Patrick continued her race to 2013.

Finally!

In one respect, the race cars being developed for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season will be on the race track next week -- in the form of ideas that will be incorporated into the new models.

The first time Danica Patrick hit the wall was in her first run during Nationwide Series practice Friday morning, when she clipped it with the right-rear of her No. 7 car. In opening Sprint Cup practice, she hit it again entering Turn 3. Later, she scraped it in almost the same place in almost the same way. With minutes remaining in the session she hit it one more time, this time harder in between Turns 3 and 4, the impact leaving a long, white streak down the right side of her green automobile.

When the original Sprint Cup schedule for Danica Patrick was penciled in by Stewart-Haas Racing late last year, the plan was for her much-hyped debut to come at Darlington Raceway, perhaps the toughest race track in NASCAR.

Carroll Shelby never competed in NASCAR, but his legacy lives within a stock-car racing community that was saddened by news of the automotive mastermind's passing.

After a stellar qualifying run, Jimmie Johnson said there was some speed left in Darlington Raceway -- and Greg Biffle found it.

The outcome of last season's Sprint Cup event at Darlington Raceway was so surprising not just because of who won but because of how he did it. Regan Smith's gamble to stay out on old rubber might have netted the driver his first career victory on NASCAR's premier series, but in the process, it also upturned decades of history at a venue where tire management was once a variable capable of separating the winner from everyone else.

The question follows Hendrick Motorsports from week to week and race track to race track, no longer an affirmation of its success but a reminder of its struggle. When will that elusive 200th victory finally come?

The Coca-Cola Racing Family is no longer a boys club. Danica Patrick has joined the eight-man crew and will pitch Coke Zero.

Ryan Newman's fondness for Darlington Raceway has translated to positive results through the years. A victory has been the only thing lost in translation.

For Starters

It isn't easy making a name for yourself in NASCAR, particularly when your name happens to be Regan Smith.

Last week was tough on nerves, tough on equipment, and tough on points for several drivers who did not need any more obstructions to their Chase hopes. Physically, Talladega is one of the easiest tracks on drivers. Other than muscle strain from tensing up for 500 miles while waiting for someone in front of them to make a mistake that triggers the Big One, there is little movement inside the cockpit, but that all changes this week as the series visits the Track Too Tough to Tame.

Regan Smith, who won his first and so far only Sprint Cup race last year at Darlington Raceway, answers this week's six questions.