Richard Petty
Alex Bowman, left, Chase Elliott, center, and Denny Hamlin listen to the national anthem before the NASCAR Cup Series auto race Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Column: NASCAR's dizzying silly season will change landscape

By Jenna Fryer Sep. 21, 2020 09:34 PM EDT

FILE - Daniel Suarez talks to the media before practice for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Suarez, who landed his ride two weeks before the season-opening Daytona 500, will not return to Gaunt Brothers Racing next season. The team said Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, it was a mutual decision for the Mexican driver to leave the team. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
Suarez on the move again after parting with Gaunt Brothers

By Jenna Fryer Sep. 15, 2020 10:25 AM EDT

Bubba Wallace (43) runs during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Wallace leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at season's end

By Jenna Fryer Sep. 10, 2020 01:42 PM EDT

FILE - Jimmy Johnson is at left in a 2019 file photo. Scott Dixon is at right in a 2020 file photo. Jimmie Johnson will transition from NASCAR to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing in a partnership that could pair two of the most dominant drivers of this generation on one team. The seven-time NASCAR champion will work with the Ganassi organization to finalize sponsorship on a two-year program for Johnson to run the road and street course races on IndyCar's schedule. If funding is secured, Johnson would be teammates with five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. (AP Photo/File)
Jimmie Johnson teams with Ganassi on 2-year IndyCar program

By Jenna Fryer Sep. 09, 2020 10:45 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2019, file photo, Joey Logano is shown prior to the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. Logano was sitting in his motorhome watching television when a shell-shocked Erik Jones was interviewed about his firing from Joe Gibbs Racing. Logano knew exactly how Jones felt. Logano had been in that exact spot eight years earlier. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso, File)
Jones gets advice on life after Joe Gibbs Racing from Logano

By Jenna Fryer Aug. 27, 2020 01:55 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2020, file photo, Bubba Wallace takes part in an interview during NASCAR Daytona 500 auto racing media day at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Corporate interest in Bubba Wallace has picked up momentum and NASCAR’s only black full-time driver has signed a new sponsor that includes funding for his Richard Petty Motorports team. Columbia Sportswear signed a multiyear sponsorship with Wallace as a brand ambassador that will also put the company on the No. 43 at Dover later this month. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace adds another sponsorship deal

Aug. 14, 2020 12:22 PM EDT

Driver Bubba Wallace stands during the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Bubba Wallace, Columbia Sportswear sign sponsorship deal

By Jenna Fryer Aug. 12, 2020 10:32 AM EDT

Kevin Harvick (4) races Aric Almirola (10) during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Harvick holds off Hamlin for Michigan doubleheader sweep

By Noah Trister Aug. 09, 2020 03:18 PM EDT

AUTO RACING: Auto Racing Glance

By The Associated Press Jul. 14, 2020 08:14 PM EDT
All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES All-Star Race Site: Bristol, Tennessee ...

Bubba Wallace stands for the National Anthem before the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, July 12, 2020, in Sparta, Ky. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Column: Wallace deserves a slot in NASCAR's All-Star race

By Jenna Fryer Jul. 13, 2020 03:07 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 1, 2020, file photo, Jimmie Johnson is introduced to the crowd during activities as he carries his youngest daughter Lydia as his oldest daughter Genevieve and wife Chandra follow prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Fontana, Calif. This year has hardly been the farewell tour Jimmie Johnson envisioned when he said 2020 would be his final season of full-time NASCAR racing. The seven-time champion has had to say his goodbyes at empty race tracks absent of all fanfare and now his streak of 663 consecutive races has ended because Johnson tested positive for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Will Lester, File)
Column: Jimmie Johnson finds voice during last NASCAR season

By Jenna Fryer Jul. 07, 2020 01:27 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2017, file photo, former NBA player and players union deputy Roger Mason, left, listens as entertainer Ice Cube, right, announces the launch of the BIG3, a new 3-on-3 professional basketball league, in New York. Hundreds of sports-related businesses got in line for the government-funded Payroll Protection Plan designed to cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. None of the four North American major sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball — applied, but both Major League Soccer and the National Women's Soccer League were represented. Rapper Ice Cube's 3-on-3 basketball league says it returned almost half of the $1.6 million it received, but givebacks were rare. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Sports jumps on PPP bandwagon, but big leagues take a pass

By The Associated Press Jul. 06, 2020 10:07 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks before the start of the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday n Daytona Beach, Fla. NASCAR’s layered relationship with Trump took a sharp turn Monday, July 6, 2020, when Trump blasted the series for banning the Confederate flag and wrongly accused the sport’s only full-time Black driver of perpetrating “a hoax” when a crew member found a noose in the team garage stall.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Trump sideswipes NASCAR, Wallace over flag and noose

By Jill Colvin And Jenna Fryer Jul. 06, 2020 10:09 AM EDT

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Kyle Weatherman drives through a turn during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, July 3, 2020. The car carries the hashtag #standfortheFlag and features a We Stand for the National Anthem paint scheme. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Paint schemes go political as NASCAR season heats up

By Michael Marot Jul. 03, 2020 06:12 PM EDT

Kevin Harvick celebrates in the winners circle after winning the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Saturday, June 27, 2020, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Column: NASCAR rolls on, through crisis and controversy

By Jenna Fryer Jun. 29, 2020 02:47 PM EDT

This photo provided by NASCAR shows the noose found in the garage stall of Black driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., on Sunday, June 21, 2020. The discovery prompted a federal investigation that determined the rope had been there since at least last October. (NASCAR via AP)
Wallace, NASCAR's agent of change, doing 'what feels right'

By Dan Gelston Jun. 26, 2020 05:43 PM EDT

Michael McDowell (34), Bubba Wallace (43) and Chris Buescher (17) ride side-by-side during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega Ala., Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Blaney wins at Talladega after NASCAR unites behind Wallace

By John Zenor Jun. 22, 2020 03:30 PM EDT

Nascar drivers Kyle Busch, left, and Corey LaJoie, right, join other drivers and crews as they push the car of Bubba Wallace to the front of the field prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega Ala., Monday June 22, 2020. In an extraordinary act of solidarity with NASCAR’s only Black driver, dozens of drivers pushed the car belonging to Bubba Wallace to the front of the field before Monday’s race as FBI agents nearby tried to find out who left a noose in his garage stall over the weekend. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
NASCAR rallies around Wallace as FBI investigates noose

By Jenna Fryer Jun. 22, 2020 02:09 AM EDT

Bubba Wallace stands for the national anthem before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race Sunday, June 14, 2020, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Noose found in stall of Bubba Wallace at Alabama NASCAR race

By John Zenor Jun. 21, 2020 04:14 PM EDT

Fans dot the stands prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega Ala., Sunday, June 21, 2020. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway postponed by rain

By John Zenor Jun. 21, 2020 03:34 PM EDT