NASCAR

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ?? Sam Ard, a two-time champion of NASCAR's second-tier series, died Sunday. He was 78. Ard died in South Carolina. NASCAR called Ard "a tough-as-nails racer" in a statement confirming his death, but gave no details. Ard won titles in what is now known as the Xfinity Series...

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) Paul Menard won the pole Saturday for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. It's the second career pole for Menard, who has just one top-five finish this season. He also qualified first for a race at Daytona almost exactly 10 years ago. ''Ten years, it goes...

There are two certainties heading into the Daytona 500: Kevin Harvick is the favorite, and no one is sure what the action will look like in the "Great American Race." Harvick remained perfect through Speedweeks on Thursday by winning the first of two 150-mile Budweiser Duel qualifying races, and the...

Kasey Kahne's bumper-banging battle with Brad Keselowski was just the warm-up act in an action-packed race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Former teammates Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano exchanged words after the race -- in person and on Twitter -- because Hamlin spun Logano as Logano was racing for the...

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....

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) NASCAR's top series has had five different winners in five races this season, and as the Monster Energy Cup Series arrives at Martinsville Speedway and its first experience with stage racing rewarding drivers at three points during the race, the focus shifts to drivers who...

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...

Kurt Busch has become the first driver this year to pass rookie orientation for the Indianapolis 500. The 2004 Sprint Cup champion came to Indy this week to test himself on the 2.5-mile oval in one of Michael Andretti's IndyCars. He wound up completing all three phases of the...

Danica Patrick made more history at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. She became the first woman to lead a lap and was the highest female finisher in the famed Daytona 500. She led five laps and finished eighth. Janet Guthrie had the previous best finish for a woman in...

Danica Patrick walked away unhurt after a vicious crash into the frontstretch wall after her No. 10 Chevrolet blew a right front tire during the Sprint Cup race Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. She wound up finishing 39th. Patrick was on the lead lap, running 26th on Lap 185 of...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Chase Elliott suffered a setback to his championship hopes when NASCAR penalized his Hendrick Motorsports team Tuesday for a modification to his Chevrolet in the opening round of the playoffs. The aerodynamic modification was found in post-race inspection following Elliott's second-place finish on Sunday at Chicagoland....

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...