NASCAR

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Matt Kenseth won the pole position for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. The 2003 series champion needed only four laps in three rounds of qualifying Friday, outrunning final-round qualifiers like Joey Logano, who was fastest in each of the first...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Just a generation ago, NASCAR drivers raced until they were embarrassing themselves, the money ran out or they simply couldn't make it to the track anymore. They could compete into their mid-50s, and make a really good living. It's an entirely different world now. First went Jeff Gordon....

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) The exodus in recent years of some of NASCAR's most popular drivers and a continuing decline in attendance and television viewership have cast a shadow over the series. It has also put a spotlight on the young guns needed to fill the celebrity void. So far,...

Aside from Denny Hamlin suffering an injury that likely will keep him out of competition for six weeks, Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway is just what NASCAR chairman Brian France wants the sport to look like. "What I know is when the racing is tighter and there's more passing,...

Chevrolet may have pulled out of NASCAR had the governing body not developed the new "Gen 6" car that returns brand identity to the sport. "It would have been a good chance," team owner Rick Hendrick said on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure...

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) Jimmie Johnson will start from the back Sunday when he defends his Fontana title after a spin during practice wrecked his primary car. And if anybody can rally from 37th position to the checkered flag, Johnson thinks he has a good shot on his home track. Johnson elected...

Danica Patrick turned attention from her personal life to her driving Saturday. The 30-year-old Stewart-Haas Racing driver topped the second Sprint Cup practice with a fast lap of 196.220 mph, raising the possibility of her becoming on Sunday the first female to win the pole for the Daytona 500...

Typically it's not considered polite to ask a woman about her weight, but that apparently doesn't apply if you've won the pole for the Daytona 500. The question of whether Danica Patrick's weight -- or lack of it compared to fellow Sprint Cup competitors -- gave her a competitive advantage...

Nationwide Series driver Michael Annett suffered a fractured and dislocated sternum in a crash during the race at Daytona on Saturday, Petty Motorsports officials said Tuesday. Annett will undergo immediate surgery in Charlotte and will be out of the No. 43 Ford indefinitely. Cup driver Aric Almirola will replace Annett...

Sam Hornish Jr. didn't know the name of Saturday's race until he went to the drivers' meeting for the Sam's Town 300. "That's a pretty good one for me to win," he thought to himself. "Already got my name on the trophy." Hornish survived two restarts in the final 15 laps...

- Denny Hamlin won the pole for the second straight year at Fontana on Friday, turning a lap of 187.451 mph in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Greg Biffle finished second and Brad Keselowski was third in the qualifying session, but they'll start at the back after their Fords needed...

No matter the changes to the car, the tires, or the weather, Martinsville Speedway is Jimmie Johnson's kind of place. Johnson led a career-best 346 laps Sunday and pulled away on a restart with eight laps to go for his eighth career victory on the shortest track in the Sprint...