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Spire Motorsports honors Motor Racing Network’s 50th anniversary at Darlington

By Daniel McFadinAug 28, 2019, 12:01 PM EDT
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Spire Motorsports will recognize the 50th anniversary of the Motor Racing Network with its paint scheme for this weekend’s Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET Sunday on NBCSN).

The team’s No. 77 Chevrolet, which will be driven by Reed Sorenson, will be covered in the radio network’s trademark blue and logos commemorating MRN’s founding in 1970.

Also, the front quarterpanels of the car will list the original 11 affiliates who have broadcast NASCAR races since MRN’s inception.

“Our radio partners are the original ambassadors of Motor Racing Network and this sport,” said Cheryl Knight, MRN’s Director of Radio Partnerships in a press release. “Every one of our 600 stations has played a significant role in MRN’s growth and success. Having 11 stations air our broadcasts consistently since 1970 is remarkable and we are proud to honor them this weekend by placing their call letters on the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.”

Here is where the 11 affiliates are located:

WBKR-FM 92.5 – Owensboro, Kentucky

WBTR-FM 92.1 – Carrollton, Georgia

WDEV-AM 550 and FM 96.1 – Waterbury, Vermont

WESC-FM 92.5 – Greenville, South Carolina

WJCW-AM 910 – Gray, Tennessee

WMMY-FM 106.1 – Boone, North Carolina

WMTN-FX 93.3 and AM 1300 – Morristown, Tennessee

WNDB-FX 93.5 and AM 1150 – Daytona Beach, Florida

WSLM-FM 97.9 and AM 1220 – Salem, Indiana

WUSQ-FM – 102.5 – Winchester, Virginia

WWGP-FX 95.1 and AM 1050 – Sanford, North Carolina

NASCAR mourns Kobe Bryant

NBC Sports
By Jerry BonkowskiJan 26, 2020, 5:05 PM EST
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Joining their brethren in other sports, the NASCAR world took to social media upon learning the tragic news of the death of Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, killed Sunday morning in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Bryant had met a number of NASCAR drivers in his career, including Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. They were among a number of NASCAR notables who took to social media to mourn Bryant:

 

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Chad Knaus and wife expecting second child

Photo courtesy Brooke Knaus official Instagram account
By Jerry BonkowskiJan 26, 2020, 1:27 PM EST
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Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion crew chief Chad Knaus and wife Brooke are expecting their second child.

Brooke made the announcement Saturday on her Instagram account.

The couple, already parents to one-year-old son Kip, will soon be adding a daughter to their growing family.

Brooke Knaus’s Instagram post said the baby is due in July.

Kip figured prominently in the baby revelation, coming at the end of mom and dad’s ski run while vacationing in Telluride, Colorado:

 

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Kyle Larson flips, misses finals of Australia’s biggest sprint car race

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By Jerry BonkowskiJan 26, 2020, 12:50 PM EST
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Kyle Larson’s hope of following up last week’s Chili Bowl win with a triumph in Australia’s prestigious Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic fell far short Sunday.

Larson’s bid to race his way into the 24-car finals of the three-day race at Premier Speedway in Warrnambool, Australia, ended when he flipped (uninjured) on the opening lap of a last-chance qualifying heat race earlier in the evening.

Instead of being one of the featured drivers in the Classic’s 40-lap finale – the largest and most popular sprint car race of the year in the land down under – Larson was left to watch the event from the pits and cheer on Dyson Motorsport teammate and fellow American Carson Macedo.

Even that didn’t go very well, as Macedo flipped his own sprint car on the first lap of the Classic, resulting in a last-place finish. The highest finishing American was Cory Eliason, who ended up fourth.

Meanwhile, it was an all-Australian podium, with James McFadden winning the Classic for the second time in his career, followed by James Veal and Kerry Madsen.

In eight days, Larson went from capturing what he called the biggest win ever of his racing career on all levels – the Chili Bowl in his 13th try last Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma – to nothing but bad luck and utter frustration throughout his Australian journey.

Larson’s first race on Wednesday in the King’s Challenge at Borderline Speedway was rained out.

Then, in the first night of the Classic on Friday, Larson wrecked heavily in his first heat race, including flipping (he was uninjured). After his team repaired his car, Larson went back on the track, only to suffer a blown engine that knocked him out of contention to race in that evening’s feature event.

After not being on the schedule to race in Night 2 of the Classic on Saturday, Larson had one last chance to make Sunday’s featured championship event.

A total of 80 drivers battled it out in the B, C and D Mains for the eight remaining spots in the A Main, but Larson would end up not being one of those — as can be seen in the second line of the following tweet by his team:

Larson now returns to the United States to prepare for the Daytona 500 on February 16.

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Kyle Busch feeling like ‘the new guy’ during his Rolex 24 debut at Daytona

By Nate RyanJan 25, 2020, 3:00 PM EST
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch was looking forward to his first stint at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The two-time Cup champion was less enthused about his second turn behind the wheel in the IMSA season opener. Busch will climb back into the No. 14 Lexus RCF GT3 at 2 a.m. Sunday, just past the midpoint of the endurance race classic at Daytona International Speedway.

“That’s going to suck, yeah,” Busch deadpanned. “That’s exactly when I told them I did not want to run, and I got it.  Thank you very much.

“(I’m) the new guy.  I pulled the short straw.”

Click here to read more about how Busch felt about his AIM Vasser Sullivan car.