Motorcycle rider Eric Palante found dead in Dakar Rally

Belgian motorcycle rider Eric Palante has died at the Dakar Rally, organizers said Friday.

Doctors’ orders: Dario Franchitti can no longer race

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti said Thursday that doctors have told him he can no longer race because of injuries sustained in an IndyCar crash last month.

British racer Sean Edwards dies in training crash

BRISBANE, Australia — Sean Edwards, a promising British driver and the son of former Formula One driver Guy Edwards, died Tuesday in a crash during training. He was 26. Edwards, the Supercup Championship leader, was in the passenger seat as an instructor at a private …

Clint Bowyer finds some peace as he returns to Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Clint Bowyer slid out of his No. 15 car in the parking lot of BB’s Lawnside BBQ, just south of downtown Kansas City, and greeted good buddy Guy Fieri with a hearty handshake. The Sprint Cup star and Food Network icon …

NAPA parts with Michael Waltrip after NASCAR Chase scandal

NAPA Auto Parts said Thursday it is dropping Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year in the fallout of the team’s attempt to manipulate a race to get Martin Truex Jr. into NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.

Matt Kenseth’s big win to kick off Chase lost in shuffle of NASCAR’s less-than-memorable week

It seemed fitting that the GEICO 400 was red flagged for a five-hour, 10-minute rain delay Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. The first race of 10 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship didn’t end until almost midnight, and no one seemed to …

Kyle Busch easily wins the Nationwide race at Chicagoland

Kyle Busch has an excellent chance to pull off a trifecta of victories this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. But even after winning the NASCAR Nationwide series’ Dollar General 300 Saturday in record fashion, Busch pooh-poohed his chances in Sunday’s first race in the …

NASCAR brass gives its drivers directions on how to race

NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and president Mike Helton think their latest trick should fix what has been a drama-filled week, as the sport kicks off the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship with Sunday’s GEICO 400.

France and Helton met with drivers, owners …

A small consolation, but Truex turns the fastest lap in practice

Martin Truex Jr. , the driver that has garnered the most sympathy in NASCAR’S big brouhaha this week, seemed to take his anger out on the track Saturday.

Truex, who originally made the Chase and then got bumped after a 50-point penalty, laid down the …

Jeff Gordon added to Chase as NASCAR expands field to 13

In one of the most unprecedented moves in NASCAR’s history, Jeff Gordon has been added to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship as the 13th driver, and two more race teams face sanctions by the sport’s governing body. NASCAR Chairman/CEO Brian France and president …

Justin Allgaier looking forward to double-duty weekend

Justin Allgaier wishes he knew his Sprint Cup plan for 2014, but he’s just content to race three Cup races in the next month and vie for the NASCAR Nationwide championship. Allgaier is going to do double duty this weekend when he races in Saturday’s …

Kyle Busch wins NASCAR Truck race

Kyle Busch got his 34th career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, as he dominated the final 10 laps of the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 on Friday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet. Busch is doing his own tripleheader this weekend. He will race in Saturday’s …

Newman, Bowyer bury hatchet

All Ryan Newman wanted to hear was one thing from Clint Bowyer this week. “He said, ‘Man, I’m happy that you’re in [the Chase],’ ” Newman said Thursday at Navy Pier. “That’s what I needed to hear.” Newman and Bowyer are at the center of …

Defending champ Brad Keselowski now has to play to the role of Chase spoiler

If there is a couple things that Brad Keselowski has learned in his NASCAR career, it’s that there are a lot of things in the sport that he can’t control. And if you end up being too honest or too candid on social media, someone …

Dale Jarrett thinks Chicagoland is great spot to start the Chase

It has been three years since Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet has hosted the first of 10 races in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. And with all due deference to Loudon, N.H., a former Cup champion thinks Speedway brass and the city are doing …