July 6, 2014 By Seth Livingstone NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Aric Almirola loves to work on cars. To race them, he says is a bonus. And to become the first driver of Cuban descent to win in NASCAR's top series, as he did Sunday at Daytona International Speedway for Richard Petty Motorsports, is fulfillment of a dream beyond any expectations. Almirola, 30, grew up not far from Daytona and raced go-karts in the shadow of the World Center of Racing. He attended the University of Central Florida and was working on his degree in mechanical engineering when he got…

June 28, 2014 Chris Knight NASCAR Wire Service Sometimes the fastest car doesn’t always win. Tonight, at Kentucky Speedway, it did. Battling back from varying pit stop strategies, Brad Keselowski climbed six positions over the final 47 laps to pick up his second win of the season in dominating fashion in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts. By winning, Keselowski guarantees himself a berth into the Chase and also becomes the first two-time winner at the 1.5-mile speedway in three years. “Our car was awesome,” said Keselowski, who earned his 12th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. “The…

June 22, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif.—A well-timed caution helped get Carl Edwards to the front of the field, and the driver of the No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford did the rest. Edwards passed Marcos Ambrose for the lead moments after a restart on Lap 86 and subsequently held off a charging Jeff Gordon to win Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. The victory was Edwards second of the season—guaranteeing him a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, provided he finishes in the top 30 in points after race No. 26 and attempts to…

June 15, 2014 Scott Held NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. - At long last, Jimmie Johnson knows what it feels like to visit victory lane at Michigan International Speedway. The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup series champion took the lead for good on Lap 191 after a cycle of pit stops and cruised to the checkered flag at Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 to end a 24-race drought here. “We’ve figured out every way to lose this race and today we were able to get it done,” he said after getting out of his No. 48 Chevy. Johnson had encountered heartbreak several times when…

June 8, 2014 By Seth Livingstone NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA – Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in position to pounce on Sunday, punching his ticket to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by winning his second race this season and his first-ever at Pocono Raceway. It took a little racing luck. Runner-up Brad Keselowski was terrific in clean air. What he lacked was a clean grille. On Sunday, when Keselowski’s car began to overheat due to a piece of trash on his front end, Earnhardt roared by, becoming the fourth consecutive Hendrick Motorsports driver to put a Chevrolet in Victory…