2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Practice, First practice
Kyle Busch was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.207 and a speed of 191.442 mph (308.096 km/h).


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Qualifying
Due to heavy rain, qualifying was cancelled and thus, Busch won the pole based on the session's times. He stated that the practice session had "started out slow, but the guys did a real nice job on the M&M's Camry today to get us to where we needed to be". Ryan Newman joined Busch on the front row, while in third place, was Carl Edwards – who missed the front row by 0.003 seconds. Although disappointed to miss the front row, Edwards expressed that he hoped "this is a sign of things to come".


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Second practice
Paul Menard was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.606 and a speed of 188.772 mph (303.799 km/h). Kyle Larson was forced to go to a backup car after his primary car cut a left-front tire and hit the wall in turn two. As this change occurred after qualifying, it meant that Larson had to start the race from the rear of the field.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Practice (post-qualifying), Final practice
Carl Edwards was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.968 and a speed of 186.413 mph (300.003 km/h).


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, First half, Start
The race was scheduled to start at 2:16 p.m. Eastern time but started five minutes later when Kyle Busch led the field to the green. Busch held the lead for the first portion of the race, until Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 29. Jamie McMurray took the lead from Gordon on lap 40, and held the lead until the first set of green flag pit stops during the race, when he ceded the lead to Brad Keselowski, on lap 46.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, First half, Start
Keselowski's stay out front was short-lived, as he pitted on lap 47, and the lead cycled back to McMurray. The first caution of the race came out at around quarter-distance, caused by debris in turn two. Kyle Busch won the race off pit road, and thus retook the lead from McMurray, for the restart on lap 73. Three laps after the restart, McMurray scraped the wall upon exiting turn 2, but was able to maintain position despite that.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, First half, Start
Gordon retook the lead from Busch on lap 88, and held the lead until the race went under neutralized yellow flag conditions for the second time, on lap 99, after Ryan Newman's car cut a left-front tire, exiting turn 4. The layout of the Chicagoland Speedway meant that Newman was unable to hit pit road instantaneously after the blowout, necessitating the yellow flag. Prior to the yellow flag, Justin Allgaier also hit the wall, but was able to continue. McMurray led the field out of the pits, after he took only two tires at his pit stop. Under caution, the shifter handle on the No. 47 car of A. J. Allmendinger broke, akin to what happened to Jimmie Johnson at the Pure Michigan 400 the previous month. McMurray led to the restart on lap 105, but Keselowski retook the lead on lap 107.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, Second half
Keselowski held the lead throughout the next stint, and only gave up the lead, to make a scheduled green flag pit stop, on lap 149. This gave the head of the race to Jimmie Johnson, but Johnson pitted the next lap to give the lead back to Keselowski. However, Kevin Harvick drove past Keselowski almost immediately thereafter, to take the lead for the first time in the race. Harvick held the lead until the next caution, the race's third, on lap 181.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, Second half
The caution came after a piece of energy absorbing foam from the SAFER barrier protection blocks had broken free. Keselowski came off pit road in second place behind Harvick, but had to make another stop for a missing lug nut, prior to the lap 187 restart. Kyle Larson took the lead from Harvick with 40 laps to go, before pitting a lap later, and passed the lead onto Aric Almirola.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, Second half, Final laps
Almirola made his final stop as the caution came out with 37 laps to go after Carl Edwards' car cut down a left-rear tire, and Larson cycled back to the lead in the process. While pitting, Almirola blew his car's engine, and he retired from the race. Almirola later described himself as "heartbroken" with the result. The race restarted with 30 laps to go, but only ran for a handful of laps before Clint Bowyer brought out the fifth caution of the race, with 23 laps to go, after he hit the wall in turn 2.


2014 MyAFibStory.com 400, Race, Second half, Final laps
The race restarted with 18 laps to go, and Harvick retook the lead from Larson before Keselowski moved to the head of the race the following lap. The caution flags flew for the sixth time with ten laps to go after Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Danica Patrick made contact on the front stretch. Upon exiting her car, Patrick stated that she "talked with Ricky afterward and we're fine". The race restarted with six laps to go and Brad Keselowski coasted on to victory lane, for his second successive win. Keselowski expressed his delight at the result, stating that he "was waiting for an opportunity to strike and it came. The car stuck and everything came together".


2014 Myanmar Census
The Myanmar Census 2014 (Burmese: ၂၀၁၄ ခုနှစ် လူဦးရေနှင့် အိမ်အကြောင်းအရာ သန်းခေါင်စာရင်း) was a nationwide census between 30 March and 10 April 2014 in Myanmar (Burma). 100,000 school teachers counted the population at midnight 29 March. The theme of the census campaign was A nationwide census – Let us all Participate.


2014 Myanmar Census, Introduction
The government officially recognises 135 ethnic groups. Major groups include the majority Bamar ethnic group, and the Chin, Karen, Kayah, Kachin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan, each of which gives its name to a state.


2014 Myanmar Census, Introduction
The earliest recorded Burmese census was taken in 1359 in the Pinya Kingdom. The first nationwide census was taken in 1638, and it was followed by two other nationwide censuses in 1784 and 1803. The first modern census was taken in 1891 in the British colonial period. It was carried out in 10-year intervals until 1941. After independence, the government conducted a census in 1953/54. Two more censuses were taken in 1973 and 1983 by Gen. Ne Win's military government. According to the 1983 census, the population of the country was 35,442,972, and the Bamar accounted for 69 percent of the population. The Burmese government estimated the population to be 60.98 million in October 2012, based on approximate reproduction rates.


2014 Myanmar Census, Introduction
The census was taken in 80,985 areas across the nation. Officials prepared 41 questions for households and 11 questions for organizations.


2014 Myanmar Census, Challenges
The census faces several challenges. In the past censuses of 1973 and 1983, the country's ongoing armed conflicts put many parts of the country out of reach. As a result, several thousands of people (many of whom were hill-tribe peoples) in border regions were never counted. Another challenge is to ensure that everyone, regardless of citizenship, is counted. These include the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, who are officially classified as stateless, as well as hundreds of thousands of immigrants from China, who have illegally entered the country since the last census.


2014 Myanmar Census, Challenges
Other challenges include a systemic lack of expertise—most of the civil servants who worked on the 1973 and 1983 censuses are now retired, low levels of awareness among the population about the census, and the difficulty of reaching areas with active fighting such as Kachin State, Shan State and Kayin State.


2014 Myanmar Census, Challenges
The Burmese government plans in the 2014 census to count Burmese refugees living in Thailand, who are estimated to number 130,000 people and Burmese nationals living abroad. Rohingya, described as Bengalis in Myanmar, will be counted under the "Other" ethnicity category on the census, along with ethnic Chinese and Pakistani residents. On 29 March 2014, the government banned the word Rohingya and asked Muslims to register themselves as Bengalis despite UN assurances. In protest, most Rohingyas boycotted the census.


2014 Myanmar Census, Challenges
On 16 March 2014, Rakhine mobs protested across Rakhine State, egged on by monk Ashin Wirathu demanding that the census be stopped or changed to prevent the Rohingyas from being able to define their ethnicity. Furthermore, according to The Economist, "There are also fears of a backlash from Buddhist nationalists, should the census show, as many think it will, that the Muslim population is more than double the official estimate of 4 million."


2014 Myanmar Census, International support
The United Nations has agreed to assist the Burmese government in conducting the census. In the two years leading up to the census, UNFPA assisted in surveyor training and drafting the census forms.


2014 Myanmar Census, International support
The estimated total cost of the census is US$58.5 million, of which the Burmese government is paying US$15 million. The UNFPA is contributing US$5 million and Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) has donated over US$16 million. The United Nations and foreign governments including the United States, and Australia have pledged to help bridge the gap.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results
Provisional results were released in August 2014. The data were from the Enumeration Area Summary sheets, completed by enumerators and verified by supervisors in the field. The provisional results provided the total population by sex and administrative unit, from national, state/region, district down to township level. It also showed the population sizes of Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw and state/region capitals. Other information included were indicators such as sex ratio and population density.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results
The results showed that the total population is 51,419,420—a figure well below the last available official population estimate of 60.98 million in October 2012. This total population included 50,213,067 persons counted during the census and an estimated 1,206,353 persons in parts of northern Rakhine State, Kachin State and Kayin State who were not counted. More females (51.8%) were counted than males (48.2%). People who were out of the country at the time of the census are not included in these figures.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results, Proportion of population
The most populated areas were Yangon Region (14.3%), Ayeyawady Region (12.0%) and Mandalay Region (12.0%). The least populated areas were Naypyidaw Union Territory (2.3%), Chin State (0.9%) and Kayah State (0.6%).


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results, Sex ratio
Overall, there were 93 males for every 100 females in the country. Only in Kachin State were there more males than females; in Kayah and Shan State the numbers of males and females were almost equal. The rest of the states and regions had more females than males.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results, Population in towns and cities
There were 14,864,119 persons living in Wards (urban areas) throughout the country. This represented 29.6% of the total population. Yangon Region was the most urbanised (70.1%), followed by Kachin State (36.0%). Magway Region (15.1%) and Ayeyawady Region (14.1%) were the least urbanised.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results, Population density
The results showed a nationwide population density of 76 per square kilometre (200/sq mi). Yangon Region was the most densely populated Region, (723 per square kilometre (1,870/sq mi)), followed by Mandalay (206 per square kilometre (530/sq mi)). The least densely populated States were Kachin State (19 per square kilometre (49/sq mi)) and Chin State (13 per square kilometre (34/sq mi)).


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Provisional results, Average household sizes
The provisional census results indicated that there were 10,889,348 households in Myanmar. On average, 4.4 people lived in each household in the country. The average household size was highest in Kachin State and Chin State at 5.1. The lowest household sizes were observed in Ayeyawady Region, Bago Region, Magway Region and Naypyidaw Union Territory, each at 4.1.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Main results
The main results, released in May 2015, comprise two series of publications containing detailed national and regional information, and a report for each of the 15 states and regions in the country. It contains text, tables, graphs and maps on the size and geographical distribution of the population by sex and age, marital status, education, economic characteristics, fertility, mortality, migration and the characteristics of housing units and household amenities.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Main results
The publication of main census results that require manual coding and further consultations is planned for early 2016. This publication will contain thematic analysis reports on the major topics covered in the census.


2014 Myanmar Census, Population profile, Main results
Migrants who had left to neighboring nations for work were naturally not included in population reports. A fair percentage had returned after the census due to undocumented labor crackdowns.


2014 Myanmar National League
The MNL Myanmar 2014 is the Myanmar National League's fifth full regular season. The first round of the season is scheduled to begin on 1 February 2014 and end on 8 June 2013. The second round begins on 7 June 2014 and ends on 21 November 2014.


2014 Myanmar National League, Foreign players
The number of foreign players is restricted to four per MNL team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.


2014 Myanmar National League, Matches
Fixtures and results of the Myanmar National League 2014 season.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan
On 7 July 2014, it was announced by the New Zealand Rugby Union that the Māori All Blacks would play a three-match Asian Series, including two matches against the Japanese national team and a match against an invitational Asian Pacific Barbarians (APB) team - a side made up from top Asian and Polynesian players and coached by Tana Umaga. The APB match was set to take place at the newly opened National Stadium in Singapore, but due to concerns over the safety of the playing surface at the stadium, the match was cancelled on 21 October 2014. For Japan, the second a third meeting between the two teams goes ahead a scheduled with the 2013 tour coach Colin Cooper remaining as head coach.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Matches, First match
Touch judges:Angus Gardner (Australia)James Leckie (Australia)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australia)


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Matches, Second match
Touch judges:Luke Pearce (England)James Leckie (Australia)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australia)


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Squads
Note: Caps, ages and clubs are to 1 November, pre first match.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Squads, Māori All Blacks
New Zealand Māori 27-man squad for the 2014 Japanese November Tour was announced on 21 October.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Squads, Māori All Blacks
On 26 October, Nick Crosswell, Mitch Crosswell and Hayden Triggs were added to the squad to replace the injured Shane Christie, Liam Squire and Joe Wheeler respectively.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Squads, Japan
Japanese 30-man squad for two uncapped matches against the Māori All Blacks.


2014 Māori All Blacks tour of Japan, Squads, Japan
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2014 NA LCS season
The 2014 NA LCS season was the second year of the North American League of Legends Championship Series. It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. The top six teams from the regular season advanced to the playoff stage, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. Regular season games were played in Riot Games' studio in Sawtelle, Los Angeles.


2014 NA LCS season
The spring split began on January 16 and concluded on April 20 with the spring finals, which Cloud9 won with the same roster from the previous split: Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky and LemonNation.


2014 NA LCS season
The summer split began on May 23 and concluded with Team SoloMid winning their second NA LCS title on September 1, with a roster consisting of Dyrus, Amazing, Bjergsen, WildTurtle and Lustboy. The summer split also saw the introduction of Riot Games' official fantasy league, the Fantasy LCS.


2014 NA LCS season
Team SoloMid, Cloud9 and LMQ qualified for the 2014 World Championship by placing first, second and third respectively in the summer playoffs.


2014 NAB Challenge
The 2014 NAB Challenge was the Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season competition that was played before the 2014 home and away season. It featured 18 practice matches played over 18 days, beginning February 12 and ending March 1. Unlike previous years, the 2014 competition did not have a Grand Final or overall winner. The competition was sponsored by the National Australia Bank (NAB).


2014 NAB Challenge, Results, Practice matches
Additionally, each club played a further practice match after the NAB Challenge under the regular AFL season rules, however these matches were not televised.


2014 NACAC Cross Country Championships
The 2014 NACAC Cross Country Championships took place on February 22, 2014. The races were held at the Mount Irvine Bay Golf Course in Mount Irvine, Trinidad and Tobago. A detailed report of the event was given for the IAAF.


2014 NACAC Cross Country Championships
The event was overshadowed by the death of 17-year-old Jamaican junior Cavahn McKenzie who collapsed at the end 6 km junior event, and died shortly after his immediate transfer to Scarborough general hospital.


2014 NACAC Cross Country Championships, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 103 athletes from 10 countries participated.


2014 NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics
The 8th NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics were held at the Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada from August 8–10, 2014. A total of 44 track and field events were contested, divided evenly between the sexes.


2014 NACAC U23 Championships in Athletics, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 197 athletes from 19 countries participated.


2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics – Results
These are the results of the 2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics which took place from August 8 to 10 at the Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.


2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics – Results, Men's results, 100 meters
Heats – 8 AugustWind: Heat 1: +2.4 m/s, Heat 2: +2.6 m/s


2014 NACAM Rally Championship
The 2014 NACAM Rally Championship was the seventh season of the NACAM Rally Championship. This championship was the FIA regional rally championship for the North America and Central America (NACAM) region. The season began 28 March 2014 in Oaxaca, Mexico, and ended 23 November 2014 in Jamaica, after seven events. Mid -season events, the Venezuelan Rally Isla de Margarita and new rally Rally Guyana were removed from the calendar and replaced by two additional Colombian events, Rally Guane and Rally Volcan Peña Azul.


2014 NACAM Rally Championship
Reigning champion Ricardo Triviño of Mexico won his fifth championship after winning Rally Guane. Trivino won the Rally Costa del Pacifico as well as Rally Guane and was the leading championship-registered competitor in two other events and second in the remaining rally, giving him an unassailable 63-point lead with two rallies left in the calendar. Trivino won the Rally Volcan Peña Azul as well, and ultimately won the championship by 86 points ahead of Nicolas Bedoya. The only driver to defeat Triviño, Francisco Name Jr., finished third in the championship, two points adrift of Bedoya; he beat Dante Pescetto for the position on a tie-break. Rally Jamaica was not contested by any of the championship regulars, with the event won by Kyle Gregg.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship
The 2014 NACRA Rugby Championship, the seventh edition of the NACRA Rugby Championship, was a rugby union championship for Tier 3 North American and Caribbean teams. Pool play took place between 10 May and 28 June. A championship game followed in June, with Guyana defeating USA South in extra time. Mexico was promoted to the North Championship, with Bermuda moving down, due to the latter's inability to organize the promotion/relegation match. In the South division, Barbados defeated Curaçao to remain in the Championship.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship
The championship is split between North and South zones, which each have a three-team Championship and four-team Cup. The winner of each Championship play for the final, championship game, and a promotion/relegation game is played in each zone, between the winner of the Cup, and the last place team of the Championship.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship
Competition points are different from most rugby union tournaments: Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw. There are also bonus points for scoring four tries and for losing within a margin of 7 points or less.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship, Teams
Fourteen teams will take place in this year's tournament. They are seeded into two pools based on their regional rankings, in brackets.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship, North Zone, North Zone Championship relegation play-off
The North Zone Championship relegation play-off was played between the last-placed team of the North Zone Championship, Bermuda, and the winner of the North Zone Cup, Mexico. However, Bermuda was unable to organize the match, and Mexico moved to the Championship by default.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship, South Zone, South Zone Championship relegation play-off
The South Zone Championship relegation play-off will be played between the last-placed team of the South Zone Championship, Barbados, and the winner of the South Zone Cup, Curaçao. The winner will play in the 2015 South Zone Championship.


2014 NACRA Rugby Championship, Final
The final will be played between the winner of the North Zone Championship, USA South, and the winner of the South Zone Championship, Guyana.


2014 NACRA Sevens
The 2014 NACRA sevens is an annual rugby sevens competition held for teams affiliated with the North America Caribbean Rugby Association. The competition was held between December 3 and 4 at the Campo Marte in Mexico City, Mexico. A total of twelve teams (including two from host nation Mexico) competed in the men's tournament.


2014 NACRA Sevens
In the men's gold medal match, Guyana managed to come back from being down 7–21 at half time to defeat Mexico. The top two teams in the men's competition, along with the winner of the women's competition qualified to compete at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.


2014 NACRA Women's Sevens
The 2014 NACRA Women's Sevens was the tenth tournament of the North America and Caribbean Women's Sevens Championship, the official rugby sevens continental championships organized by NACRA. Both the women's and men's competitions were held at the Campo Marte in Mexico City, Mexico on 3–4 December 2014.


2014 NACRA Women's Sevens
Eight national teams competed in the women's tournament. Mexico as the winner qualified to compete at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.


2014 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2014 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 77th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship was held in March at Keeter Gymnasium in Point Lookout, Missouri. The 21st annual NAIA basketball tournament featured thirty-two teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game was won by Indiana Wesleyan of Marion, Indiana over Midland University of Fremont, Nebraska by a score of 78 to 68.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament field
The 2014 tournament field was announced March 5, 2014. The field featured defending champion and top seed Cardinal Stritch University as well as runner-up William Penn University. Two conferences, the Crossroads League and The Sun Conference garnered four bids apiece, while four other conferences received three bids each. The field included five first-time attendees: Cincinnati Christian University, Northern New Mexico College from Española, New Mexico, Northwest Christian University from Eugene, Oregon, Reinhardt University of Alpharetta, Georgia  and Southeastern University of Lakeland, Florida.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament field
College of the Ozarks, who received an automatic bid as the host team, leads the field in total invitations with eighteen, while Bethel College of Mishawaka, Indiana leads the field with three national championships. Defending national champion Cardinal Stritch of Milwaukee, Wisconsin earned an automatic berth as regular-season champions out of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Wolves eleventh championship appearance overall and fifth-straight. They entered the championship as the top ranked team in each of the last seven Coaches' Polls.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, First round
The first round was fairly typical, with higher seeded teams winning most games with only a couple of exceptions. Unseeded William Penn from Oskaloosa, Iowa and sixth seed Dordt College of Sioux Center, Iowa played a memorable double-overtime game. The teams combined for two hundred and thirty-four points, besting the old mark for most combined points in a game (two hundred twenty-two) set by Cornerstone University from Grand Rapids, Michigan and Bethel in 1999.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, First round
With less than a minute in the second overtime, Kelly Madison hit a step-back three to put the William Penn Statesmen on top one hundred eighteen to one hundred sixteen for the win over the Defenders. Madison recorded the tournaments highest individual scoring performance with thirty-eight points while teammate Alex Schwab scored twenty-seven. Blake Walker managed a triple-double with ten points, eleven rebounds and ten assists. For Dordt, Austin Katje put in thirty-three points, tying for the third most three-pointers made with eight and three-pointers attempted with eighteen. Nathan Rindels tallied a triple-double as well, with twenty-one points, eleven rebounds and fourteen assists. Two other Defenders, Kyle Lindbergh (twenty, ten) and Dalton Franken (twenty-five, ten) achieved double-doubles. Dordt played the entire second overtime with just one starter (Lindbergh) on the floor due to fouls.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, First round
The Thursday evening session began with the first overtime game of the day as Demarko Nash of Robert Morris hit a three-pointer with two seconds left in regulation put the game into overtime. Robert Morris continued to defeat number fourteen Saint Francis sixty-nine to sixty-three. The big upset of the day came as the Bobcats from host school College of the Ozarks shot sixty-one per cent from the field while using their home-court advantage and huge games from junior Alex Santiago and Nathan Simniok  to upset the number two-seeded College of Idaho Yotes. In another close game, St Thomas Bobcats’ guard Kevin Hincapie knocked down a three-pointer from the left win as time expired to propel his team to victory over Union.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Second round
While the first round was quiet, the second round of the 2014 tourney was filled with upsets as the three remaining top-four seeds went down. Unseeded Southeastern University from Lakeland, Florida, led by a twenty-nine point, eight for eight from the field (four for four from beyond the arc) performance by Jake Hodges,  needed a three pointer from Dwayne Johnson with two tenths of a second left to take down top seed and defending champion Cardinal Stritch. After ten lead changes in the last eight minutes, Stritch had a two-point lead with less than five seconds remaining. Johnson brought the ball the length of the floor and fired a three at the buzzer for a one-point Fire win.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Second round
In spite of a twenty-one point performance by Vernon Payne, the unseeded Robert Morris Eagles made a 7-0 run to finish the game and eliminated the three seed Indiana University Southeast Grenadiers, 71-66. Fourth seeded Cornerstone met their match in unseeded Friends. Friends came out shooting and cruised to an eighteen-point lead behind NAIA player of the year Joe Mitchell, ultimately winning the game seventy-nine to sixty-nine. When the round was over, the only seeded teams remaining were number five Indiana Wesleyan, number nine Davenport, and number ten, Midland.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Elite Eight
After scoring two-hundred and twenty-two points in the first two rounds, the William Penn Statesmen's run was brought to an end by Robert Morris (Illinois) in a seventy-nine to seventy-eight contest. The Statesmen scored the first eight points of the game, but the Eagles turned to Harry Singh off the bench for three three-pointers and Jarrell Turner for a two to gain the lead at 29-28.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Elite Eight
William Penn regained the lead on a three by Demarko Nash and held a narrow lead until layups by Blake Walker and Alec Schwab brought the margin to one point with just over a minute left. Neither team was able to score for the rest of the contest, leaving Robert Morris to advance to the Fab Four by virtue of a one-point victory. First-time guest Southeastern continued its run of victories over higher-seeded teams with a three-point win over Davenport, while the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats continued its streak of double-digit wins with a ninety-five to seventy-nine win over Friends. The fourth semifinal position was claimed by the Midland Warriors with a seventy-six to seventy win over three-time champion Bethel College.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Fab Four
As befits a tournament of upsets, three of the four teams were in their first-ever Fab Four appearance. In the first semifinal game, Indiana Wesleyan took off to an early lead over the Southeastern Fire. A Jake Hodges free throw for Southeastern tied the game at eight, but IWU answered right back and never trailed again, although the Fire would pull back within three just before the half on a layup by Dana Thomas. Indiana Wesleyan used disciplined offense and unrelenting defense to gradually pullaway to a ninety-eight to seventy-seven victory. Jordan Weidner scored twenty-nine points for the Wildcats and was joined in double figures by brothers R.J. Mahurin and Lane Mahurin, Nathan Bubash and Zac Vandewater. For the Fire, Dwayne Johnson led with 28 points, followed by Hodges and Thomas with eleven and Timothy Mitchell with ten.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Fab Four
On the other half of the bracket, Midland recorded an impressive one hundred to sixty-one shellacking of Robert Morris. In what was to become the widest Fab Four margin of victory in tournament history, Midland jumped to a sixteen to two lead over Robert Morris just three minutes into the game. Ben Imig led Midland with twenty-seven points, while Alex Starkel and Galen Gullie added fourteen and thirteen respectively. Jarrel Turner led Robert Morris with fourteen points while Sean Montgomery added ten points. Courtney Bell grabbed eleven boards for Robert Morris.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Championship game
The fifth-seeded Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats became the first team in the history of the tournament to win all of its contests by double digits as they defeated the Midland Warriors by ten points for the crown. IWU never trailed in the game, building a ten-point lead just seven minutes into the game. Midland closed to within one point on a three pointer by Avery Langford, but baskets by Zac Vandewater and Lane Mahurin quickly put IWU back up by five. In the second half, Indiana Wesleyan took control, ultimately winning the game by a score of seventy-eight to sixty-eight.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Highlights, Championship game
Jordan Weidner led the Wildcats in scoring with twenty-one. He was joined in double figures by RJ Mahurin with nineteen, Lane Mahurin with eleven and Zac Vandewater with ten. Vandewater led all teams in rebounding with ten. For Midland, Ben Imig led in scoring with seventeen, along with a team leading six assists. He was closely followed by Franklin Marcus with fifteen and Alex Starkel with ten. Starkel added nine rebounds, while Brandon Williams grabbed seven.


2014 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Epilogue
Only two players who made it to the tournament Fab Four, Jordan Weidner of Indiana Wesleyan (who was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player), and Dwayne Johnson of Southeastern were named to the NAIA All-America team. The post-season coaches poll on the other hand was heavily influenced by the outcome of the tournament, as Indiana Wesleyan and Midland wound up in first and second place respectively, while Southeastern and Robert Morris wound up third and fifth. Cardinal Stritch fell to fourth in the rankings. Indiana Wesleyan head coach Greg Tonagel was honored as the NABC Division II Men's Basketball Coach of the Year and Todd Eisner of Midland (Neb.) was named the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. Mitchell Wiggins of Southeastern was drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters.


2014 NAIA Football National Championship
The 2014 NAIA Football National Championship was a four round sixteen team tournament played between November 22 through December 19 of 2014. The tournament concluded on December 19 with a single game played as the 59th Annual Russell Athletic NAIA Football National Championship. The game matched #8 Southern Oregon (12–2) against #7 Marian (11–2).


2014 NAIA Football National Championship
The championship game was played at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida. A total of sixteen teams participated in the single-elimination tournament from across the country. Placement in the tournament was based on the final edition of the 2014 NAIA Coaches' Poll. This year's field included all but one of the top 17 teams from the final poll.


2014 NAIA Football National Championship
This was a new venue for the championship game, which had been contested for the past six years at Barron Stadium in Rome, Georgia.


2014 NAIA football rankings
One human poll makes up the 2014 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) football rankings, sometimes called the NAIA Coaches' Poll or the football ratings. When the regular season is complete, the NAIA plans to sponsor a playoff to determine the year's national champion. A final poll will be taken after completion of the 2014 NAIA Football National Championship.


2014 NAIA football rankings, Leading Vote-Getters
Since the inception of the Coaches' Poll in 1999, the #1 ranking in the various weekly polls has been held by only a select group of teams. Through the end of 2014, the team and the number of times they have held the #1 weekly ranking are shown below. The number of times a team has been ranked #1 in the postseason poll (the national champion) is shown in parentheses.


2014 NAIA football rankings, Leading Vote-Getters
In 1999, the results of a postseason poll, if one was conducted, are not known. Therefore, an additional poll was presumed, and the #1 postseason ranking has been credited to the postseason tournament champion, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.


2014 NAL season
During the 2014 season, the National Adult League, an American soccer league, saw the expansion of the South Florida market with five added teams joining the NAL–Florida. The schedule for the Florida division was announced in May with each team to play an 8-game schedule.


2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
The 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the 20th season of the Camping World Truck Series, the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season was contested over twenty-two races, beginning with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Toyota entered as the reigning Manufacturers' Champion, while Matt Crafton entered as the defending Drivers' Champion, and ended the season with his second consecutive title.


2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Schedule
The final calendar was released on October 25, 2013, containing 22 races. Rockingham Speedway has been removed from the schedule due to financial issues, while the second race at Iowa Speedway has also been dropped. Gateway Motorsports Park will return to the schedule for the first time since 2010, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway will also feature in the schedule for the first time since 2011. Fox Sports 1 will air all of the races except for Talladega which will air on FOX, which makes a return to airing the Truck Series for the first time since 2009.


2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Results and standings, Drivers' standings
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.


2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
The 2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season was the eighth season of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, which took place in the summer of 2014. The season consisted of 11 races at 10 different venues, of which 7 were held on ovals. It began with the Pinty's presents the Clarington 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on May 18 and ended with the Pinty's 250 at Kawartha Speedway on September 20. Scott Steckly entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion.


2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin won his first series championship at Kawartha Speedway, finishing three points ahead of J. R. Fitzpatrick. Dumoulin won two races during the season, at Saskatoon and Trois-Rivières, and finished every race inside the top nine placings; this run included nine top-five finishes. Fitzpatrick won one more race than Dumoulin – winning both Canadian Tire Motorsport Park races, as well as the Kawartha finale – but only recorded three further top-five finishes. Despite not winning a race, D. J. Kennington finished third in the championship, eight points ahead of defending champion Steckly, who won at Saint-Eustache.


2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
Three other drivers won races during the season, including Jason Hathaway and Andrew Ranger, who each won two races; Hathaway won the series' inaugural race at the quarter-mile Autodrome Chaudière as well as winning at Barrie Speedway, while Ranger won back-to-back races at ICAR and Edmonton International Raceway, another new venue to the 2014 schedule. The season's other winner was Donald Chisholm, who only contested two races during the year. Chisholm was the winner at Riverside International Speedway, a track that his father owned until his death in July 2014; it was his maiden series victory.


2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
The 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East was the 28th season of the K&N Pro Series East. It began with the New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS at New Smyrna Speedway on February 16, and ended with the Drive Sober 150 at Dover International Speedway on September 26. Dylan Kwasniewski entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
Ben Rhodes won the championship with a round to spare, after amassing five race wins during the season; he also finished all bar three races inside the top-ten placings. Rhodes ultimately finished 60 points clear of his closest rival in the points standings, Cameron Hayley. Hayley finished on the podium in seven races – including five second-place finishes – but was unable to take a race win. Third place in the championship went to Gray Gaulding, who like Hayley, failed to take a race victory during 2014; his best result was a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. Three other drivers took two race wins, as Daniel Suárez won the opening two races of the season, while Scott Heckert and Austin Hill each won consecutive races, in the final four races. Other race-winning drivers were Brandon Jones, Jesse Little, Sergio Peña, Eddie MacDonald and Cole Custer.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
The 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West was the 61st season of the K&N Pro Series West. It began with the Talking Stick Resort 75 at Phoenix International Raceway on February 27, and will end with the Casino Arizona 100, also at Phoenix, on November 6. Derek Thorn entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion. 2011 champion Greg Pursley won his second championship after the last race, 17 points ahead of Dylan Lupton.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
This season was also notable for featuring the debut of James Bickford, the cousin of NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon. Driving the No. 6 car for Sunrise Ford Racing, Bickford went on to win rookie of the year for the season.


2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.


2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series
The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 33rd season of the Nationwide Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by the NASCAR in the United States. It began with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 22, and ended with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15. This was also the final year that the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company sponsored the series, opting for increased involvement in the Sprint Cup Series, as well as the final season the series was broadcast by ESPN. Ford entered the season as the defending Manufacturer's Champion. After 2014, Xfinity became the series sponsor.


2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, Teams and drivers, Driver changes
Between the 2013 and 2014 seasons, several driver changes have occurred. Kevin Harvick will run with JR Motorsports for 13 races. Numerous drivers will move up to the Nationwide Series full-time; Brendan Gaughan, Ty Dillon, Ryan Reed, Dakoda Armstrong, Landon Cassill, as well as 2012 ARCA champion Chris Buescher, and his cousin James Buescher, the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. Maryeve Dufault will contest a limited schedule. Sam Hornish Jr. moves from Penske Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he will share a ride with Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch Motorsports will not field any cars in 2014 due to lack of funding.


2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led


2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, Results and standings, Owners' championship (Top 15)
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
The 2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (XXX) was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 17, 2014, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 90 laps, it was the second exhibition race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Report, Race format
The race was 90 laps long, separated into five segments: four segments of 20 laps and a final segment of 10 laps. A mandatory pit stop was utilized between the final two segments, while pitting between the 20 lap segments was optional. Since the inaugural race in 1985, the format has changed ten times. In 2014, the Sprint Showdown was held on Friday –before the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Camping World Truck Series race – instead of being before the All-Star Race.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Report, Entry list
The All-Star Race was open to race winners from the 2013 Daytona 500 through the 2014 5-hour Energy 400 at Kansas Speedway and previous All-Star race winners from the past ten years were eligible to compete in the All-Star Race. The drivers who finished first and second in the Sprint Showdown, a 40-lap preliminary race, were also eligible to compete in the race, as well as the Sprint fan vote winner provided that the fan vote winner finished on the lead lap and a car still in race-able condition (the latter condition also applied to the Showdown winner and runner-up). The All-Star Race had 22 drivers, 19 of which were race winners.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Report, Entry list
The Showdown had 23 drivers of the 30 drivers eligible. Justin Allgaier chose to skip the All-Star weekend and focus on the following week's Coca-Cola 600. Allgaier, 29th in points, said accidents the previous weekends contributed to the team's decision to skip the non-points event. “For us, being a small independent team, obviously, the points races are the main focus,’’ said Allgaier, who was 29th in points.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Report, Entry list
“With crashing a couple of weeks ago at Talladega and crashing last week at Kansas, it puts a toll on a team and this is going to allow us to really hit the reset button. “It’s crazy to think that you crash like that, jump out, walk to the ambulance and go home and wake up the next day and not even feel like you crashed."


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Practice, Sprint Showdown practice
Kyle Larson was the fastest in the sole Sprint Showdown practice session with a time of 27.820 and a speed of 194.105 mph (312.382 km/h).


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Practice, Sprint All-Star Race practice
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest in the sole All-Star Race practice session with a time of 27.898 and a speed of 193.562 mph (311.508 km/h).


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Sprint Showdown qualifying
Austin Dillon won the pole for the Showdown with a time of 27.747 and a speed of 194.616 mph (313.204 km/h).


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Sprint Showdown
The Showdown started at 7:22 p.m. on Friday. Marcos Ambrose got nicked in the rear by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and spun out to bring out the first caution on lap 3. Clint Bowyer took the lead from A. J. Allmendinger at the end of segment one. Michael Annett stayed out during the caution period and assumed the lead. He spun the tires on the restart and just about took a few cars out. Clint Bowyer took the victory in the Showdown, advancing to the Sprint All-Star Race along with Allmendinger.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Sprint Showdown
Josh Wise advanced to the All-Star Race by winning the fan vote. "This is kind of a big deal for our sport," Wise said after the Showdown Friday night. "It's a lot of young kids and people from around the world. I've had the chance to interact with a lot of them, and there's a lot of people who had never watched a NASCAR race who have now watched several, so it's a pretty cool deal."


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Sprint All-Star Race qualifying
Carl Edwards won the pole for the second year in a row for the All-Star Race with a cumulative time of 1:50.268 and a speed of 146.915 mph (236.437 km/h). For the first time, the three drivers who transferred from the Showdown participated in All-Star Race qualifying, rather than automatically starting at the rear of the all-star field. They could work on their cars prior to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
The All-Star Race was scheduled to begin at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday but was pushed back by almost half an hour. In segments one, two and three, all laps were counted, with teams having the option to pit during the breaks. In segment four, all laps were counted, with the running order at the completion of the segment being repositioned, based on the average finish of the first four segments. Running order ties were broken by the finish of the fourth segment. Pit road was open for a mandatory four-tire pit stop, with the order of cars returning to the track determining the starting order of the fifth and final segment. Only green flag laps counted in the final segment.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment one
Kyle Busch took the lead from Carl Edwards and kept it through the first segment. During the optional pit stops, everybody but Denny Hamlin pitted.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment two
On lap 26, in the second segment, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer made contact on the backstretch, with Busch hitting the wall and taking out Joey Logano. "Kurt (Busch) got real bottled up on the outside and slowed down so I knew I was clear to go to the bottom and swoop down and try to get underneath Bowyer," Kyle Busch said.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment two
"When I did, he blocked me and I hit him and he got squirrely and then I was still under him and it hit me and turned me around the wrong way on the backstretch and got in the outside wall." Logano stated that "they were just crashing in front of me", and that he "thought he was going to stay up by the wall and he started coming down. I was in the wrong spot and I couldn't get low enough quick enough as quick as he was coming down."


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment two
On lap 31, A. J. Allmendinger was turned by Brian Vickers, who was pushed by Greg Biffle, and hit the inside wall on the backstretch. On lap 37, Hamlin started falling to the rear. Kasey Kahne finished in the lead at the end of segment two; just like the break in the first segment, everybody but four cars pitted. Kahne led at the end of segment three as well, with everybody pitting after the segment.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment three
After restarting on lap 61, Jeff Gordon veered up in front of Martin Truex, Jr. and Biffle, and hit the wall to bring out the sixth caution. "Something broke, I'm not exactly sure what," Gordon said. "I was just going down the backstraightaway going into Turn 3 and I just felt something in the front end give. As I got to the corner, the car went straight."


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Segment four
With three laps remaining in segment four, Ryan Newman slammed the wall in turn 4. Kevin Harvick led at the end of segment four and Kahne hit the wall. Harvick led the field down pit road since he had the best average finish in the four segments. Kahne had the second best in the four segments and therefore would've entered pit road second but did not because of pitting before pit road was open. Because of this, Jamie McMurray did.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Final segment
On the final, mandatory, four-tire stop, Carl Edwards won the race off pit road. On the restart, Jamie McMurray took the lead from Carl Edwards and took the checkered flag. "As a kid, that is what you grew up wanting to do, is have a shootout like that and have a possibility to race for 10 laps," McMurray said.


2014 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Final segment
"He got a little bit of a jump on me on the restart and I was able to hang on to his quarter panel, and when we kept entering Turn 1 and 3, I was like, "It is for a million bucks. If we wreck, it's not that big of a deal." It's so cool to come out on top."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 66th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 43rd modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
This season was the final year of broadcasting for both the ESPN family of networks and Turner Sports. ESPN had covered the second half of the Sprint Cup season since 2007 while Turner Sports ended a thirty-one year relationship with NASCAR on TBS and later TNT. For 2015, their portions of the season were divided between Fox Sports and NBC.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing claimed the drivers' championship and owners' championship, while Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship. In one of the largest rookie classes in recent history, Kyle Larson was named Rookie of the Year.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2014 season was the first Cup Series season without NASCAR legend Mark Martin since 1985 after he retired following the end of the 2013 season. Additionally, this was also the first Cup season without Ken Schrader since 2009, Tony Raines since 2001, Scott Riggs since 2003, Elliott Sadler since 1996 (he would return 3 years later in 2017), Scott Speed since 2007, and Kenny Wallace since 1989. However, excluding 2009, this was the first season without Schrader since 1983.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes
In contrast to previous seasons, NASCAR imposed several new rules changes that drastically altered how the circuit operates.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Rules changes
Beginning this year, NASCAR eliminated traditional single car qualifying in its top 3 series for all races except the Daytona 500, the Mudsummer Classic, and non-points events. Qualifying will now be done in a Formula One-style knockout qualifying. For all tracks larger than 1.25 miles in length, qualifying will consist of all entered cars on track for 25 minutes. The fastest 24 move onto a 10-minute session, while the final 12 drivers compete for the overall pole in a 5-minute session.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Rules changes
For tracks shorter than 1.25 miles as well as road courses, all entered cars will qualify in a 30-minute session, while the 12 fastest will compete in a final 10 minute session. A similar system involving groups of cars being released at five-second intervals was used at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International in 2013.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Rules changes
The rule was modified slightly for restrictor plate races (other than the Daytona 500, which maintains its single car pole qualifying and Budweiser Duel qualifying races) beginning at Talladega in the October race. During sessions at restrictor plate tracks, such as at Talladega's spring race, drivers had either ridden around the track at slow speeds or stopped on pit road for several minutes to avoid aiding others in the draft. In an effort to avoid this, a new procedure was implemented:


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Rules changes, New Chase format
On January 30, 2014, NASCAR announced radical changes to the format for the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, 2014 NASCAR realignment
The 2014 schedule had a few changes from the 2013 schedule, all of them among the first fifteen races.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, 2014 NASCAR realignment
The dates for the spring races at Darlington Raceway and Kansas Speedway (Bojangles' Southern 500 and 5-hour Energy 400 respectively) were swapped, giving Kansas its first primetime Sprint Cup race, Texas Motor Speedway's spring race was changed from a Saturday night to a Sunday afternoon race for this year only due to conflicts with the NCAA basketball finals, it and Martinsville Speedway's STP 500 were moved up a week, the new Darlington date moved to Texas's original spot on the schedule, and the spring off-weekend moved to Kansas' original date, to coincide with Easter.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Other changes
NASCAR restructured the penalties and appeals system allowing penalties to be more consistent. The appeals process also makes NASCAR's basis for issuing the penalty public at the first appeal instead of the last. Minor changes were made to the Gen-6 race car. Rules on ride height were loosened, and the top of the rear spoiler is now made of clear material to give drivers more visibility. After a six-hour delay at the first Chase race in 2013 at Chicagoland, NASCAR will now make the Air Titan available at all Sprint Cup Series races and accompanying races at no extra charge. The Air Titan has also been improved to Air Titan 2.0 shortening track drying time even further.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Changes, Other changes
In addition, starting in 2014, drivers have a winner's decal placed behind the driver's name on the side of the car for each race victory they earn during the season.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Schedule
The final calendar was released on October 15, 2013, comprising 36 races, as well as two exhibition races. The schedule also includes two Budweiser Duels, which are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Speedweeks 2014 kicked off with the 2014 Sprint Unlimited. Denny Hamlin started on pole and won all three segments in a bizarre race that featured 10 of the 18 cars crashing out, along with three more being damaged, and the pace car catching on fire. Hamlin led 27 of the 75 laps and won the race ahead of Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Qualifying for the front row took place the next day, with rookie Austin Dillon, fielding the famed No. 3 car, appearing for the first time since the 2001 Daytona 500, winning the pole. Martin Truex Jr. won the outside pole.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
During the first practice session on Wednesday, a five-car wreck happened and ended with rookie Parker Kligerman on his roof; several teams had to use back-up cars. The wreck brought out a red flag that prematurely ended the session. The second session was run without major incident.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
The 2014 Budweiser Duels were fairly uneventful, with Matt Kenseth winning the first race that ran caution-free, and Denny Hamlin winning the second that had only one caution–a large wreck on the last lap that started when Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel. Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., and Michael Waltrip, among others, were involved. Clint Bowyer flipped his car during the accident.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Austin Dillon started on pole, but led only the first lap. The first 35 laps featured Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch taking turns leading, and Kyle Larson struggling with two flat tires. During the second caution for an engine problem on Martin Truex Jr.'s car, it began to rain, and by lap 39, the red flag was displayed with Kyle Busch as the leader. The red flag lasted over six hours as track-drying was delayed due to ongoing rain showers. The race went back green under the lights, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the final part of the race. Several minor "big ones" broke out late in the race, but Earnhardt held on to win his second career Daytona 500.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano took the front row for Team Penske, but Kevin Harvick dominated most of the race. Harvick would hang on to win the race, his first for with his new team, Stewart-Haas Racing. Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in second.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Joey Logano took the pole, and after a race with several different strategies and leaders, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself in the lead trying to make it to the finish on fuel mileage. However, Earnhardt ran out of fuel with just over half a lap to go, and Brad Keselowski took advantage to win the race. Since they had a sizable lead on the rest of the field, Earnhardt would get back going with what little fuel he had left and finish in second position.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
The race started on time, but, just like the Daytona 500, rain delayed the race in the early going. The race finally got restarted under the lights several hours later. After many of the frontrunners, including Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson, suffered from numerous problems, Carl Edwards found himself up front late in the race. Edwards held on as rain caused the race to end under caution after 503 laps (a caution had waved with two to go and the race had not yet been restarted for the green-white-checker).


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Matt Kenseth started on pole, but gave way to Brad Keselowski, who started on the front row and had the fastest car at the beginning. After he led 38 laps. Jimmie Johnson would take over the lead, leading 104 of the race's 200 laps. Many cautions waved during the race because of drivers repeatedly cutting down left side tires. Kenseth had the first pit box and would take advantage of it a few times, coming out in the lead. Kenseth would lead three or four laps after the restarts, then Johnson would pass him as Kenseth's car faded back.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
With seven laps remaining, Johnson had a left-front tire go down, giving the lead to his teammate Jeff Gordon. Keselowski suffered his third left-rear tire failure a lap later but stayed out of harm’s way. The same fate befell Marcos Ambrose on the same lap. Gordon, who had a large lead, slowed his pace and almost made it to the finish, but Clint Bowyer spun with less than three laps to go, thanks to a flat left-rear tire. The caution waved to set up the green-white-checker finish. On the restart, Gordon got shuffled back to finish in 13th.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kyle Busch passed Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch (both of whom only took two tires during pit stops), bringing rookie Kyle Larson with him. Kyle Busch held off Larson to win his first race of the year. Larson finished second and Kurt Busch finished third. Kenseth also passed Stewart on the last lap to finish in fourth. Stewart came home fifth.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kyle Busch started on pole, and he, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson took several turns leading through the first 70 laps as Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, and others were caught up in early accidents. Joey Logano then took over the lead from Kyle Busch for a few laps, but yielded to Johnson and Kenseth. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch and Keselowski would continuously bump and race each other very hard because of an incident on pit road several laps before.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
This would ultimately lead to a caution for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. running up into the wall after checking up for the ongoing battle between Busch and Keselowski. Kenseth retook the lead during pit stops under the caution, but quickly yielded to Logano after the restart. After another caution and restart, Johnson took over from Logano. Johnson, Logano, Hamlin, and Kenseth all faded soon after, and after lap 165, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, and A. J. Allmendinger became the new top-three.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
After another caution for a spin by Casey Mears, Ambrose won the race off of pit road to become the new leader. Kenseth and Johnson would get by Ambrose after several laps, but another caution would wave after Jamie McMurray got bumped into the wall by Dale Earnhardt Jr.. After the restart, Kenseth would lose the lead to Johnson, then fade back to tenth after getting stuck on the outside.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Caution number seven waved around lap 220, after David Gilliland turned Alex Bowman into the wall. Earnhardt, Allmendinger, and Kurt Busch stayed out, but everyone else pitted, with Logano coming off of pit road first. After another quick caution and restart for debris, Kurt Busch took the lead from Earnhardt on lap 243, and Johnson took over from Busch two laps later. The ninth caution waved at lap 250 after Ryan Truex go turned into the wall, and all of the leaders made pit stops. Kenseth, however, stayed out and reassumed the lead, with Tony Stewart taking second.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Johnson and Earnhardt would come out of pit road first to restart third and fourth, respectively. Earnhardt took the lead on lap 260, Johnson took over once again on lap 265, and then Clint Bowyer charged to the front and took the lead on lap 284 but gave it back to Johnson four laps later and faded back a bit. Meanwhile, Kenseth and Stewart, who both stayed out during the previous caution, would fall back quickly, with Kenseth being lapped on lap 304 and Stewart losing a lap ten laps later.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Other drivers had problems as well, with Alex Bowman cutting a tire and Denny Hamlin getting a windshield tear-off stuck over the opening to his left-front brake duct. Lap 315 saw the tenth caution as Joe Nemechek slammed the wall, and all of the leaders pitted and retained their positions. The eleventh caution flew on lap 340 as 20th-place Kyle Larson spun out of turn two, and the leaders pitted once again, with Johnson and Bowyer keeping their first and second-place positions.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Bowyer nosed ahead on the restart and led a lap, but Johnson retook the lead the next lap as another caution waved for debris. Edwards would nose ahead on the next restart but fail to lead a lap before Johnson pulled away. The 13th caution flew on lap 411 as Brad Keselowski spun Martin Truex Jr. in turn two, and on the ensuing pit stops, an exiting Edwards hit an entering Matt Kenseth, spinning Kenseth around backwards into his pit stall. Johnson retained the lead on the restart, ahead of Bowyer and Edwards.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kurt Busch would then move up second and challenge Johnson but fell back and was passed by Bowyer. Bowyer then chased Johnson down, and, after a slip by Johnson, took the lead on lap 450. On lap 459, Carl Edwards spun to bring out the 14th caution, and Bowyer fell back to tenth during pit stops, allowing Johnson to retake the lead ahead of Joey Logano. Johnson barely retained the lead on the lap 466 restart, but began to pull away as Kurt Busch slipped into second.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Busch would then run down and pass Johnson in about five laps, but Johnson would once again retake the lead on lap 483, with that pass setting a new track record with 32 lead changes. Busch retook the lead on lap 490 (the 33rd lead change) and held off Johnson to break a winless drought dating back to the 2011 AAA 400, ironically another race that Johnson led the most laps in but was beaten late by Busch. Earnhardt finished third, Joey Logano fourth, Marcos Ambrose fifth, and Matt Kenseth sixth.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
The race's start was delayed due to rain, marking the third time in seven race weekends in 2014 that weather affected a race. Eventually, NASCAR announced that the race would be postponed to Monday, April 7, and started at 12 p.m., marking the season's first rainout. The race started under green-yellow conditions to allow track workers to dry the track from the rain while green flag laps were counted under yellow flag conditions.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought out the first yellow of the race two laps after it officially went green on Lap 11 when he clipped the wet infield grass on the front stretch, causing the splitter to dig in and damage the front end of his car before it caught fire. Teammate Jimmie Johnson received some damage from the dirt dug up by Earnhardt Jr. Joey Logano made a last lap pass on Jeff Gordon to win the race.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kevin Harvick started on the pole, led the most laps, and passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps to go to win his second race of the year at Darlington Raceway.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Joey Logano scored his second win of the season after a nine lap battle for the win.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Denny Hamlin scored his first victory of the season, and first career win at Talladega Superspeedway, after taking the lead from Kevin Harvick with two laps to go.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jeff Gordon took the lead with eight laps to go and held off a last lap charge by Kevin Harvick for his 89th career win.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
For the first time, the Sprint Showdown was held the day before the All-Star Race, with Clint Bowyer winning and A. J. Allmendinger finishing second to advance to the All-Star Race. Josh Wise was the winner of the fan vote to be the third driver to advance.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
For the main race, Carl Edwards took the pole in a unique qualifying session, but Kyle Busch won the first 20-lap segment. However, he and Joey Logano crashed in the second segment, followed soon after by Allmendinger. Kasey Kahne won the second and third segments, but faded in the fourth after hitting the wall, along with Ryan Newman. Kevin Harvick would later win the fourth segment. On the restart for the last segment, which was ten laps, Jamie McMurray passed Edwards and held off Harvick to win his first All-Star race.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jimmie Johnson won the pole, led the most laps, and won the race ahead of Kevin Harvick, after the latter was slowed down by pit difficulties late and could not recover in time. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five. Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick both suffered blown engines in the race, with Busch's engine failure ending his chance of completing all 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, an act known as "Double Duty".


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Brad Keselowski started on pole, but Kyle Busch led the early part of the race. Jimmie Johnson eventually passed Kyle Busch for the lead. Clint Bowyer got into Kyle Busch, who wound up hitting the wall and ending his day. Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided on the backstretch, also involving Landon Cassill, Ryan Truex, and Justin Allgaier. The race was red flagged in order to clean up. After the race resumed, Kevin Harvick took the lead from Johnson.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jamie McMurray hit a piece of concrete in turn two, which resulted in a second red flag in order to repair the hole in the track. The concrete ended up causing damage to the bridge over the track in that location. Harvick continued to lead after the red flag until having to pit for a flat tire, yielding the lead to Matt Kenseth. Johnson took the lead from Kenseth and dominated the remainder of the race, winning his second consecutive race and his ninth win at Dover.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Denny Hamlin took the pole with a new track record, but Brad Keselowski led the most laps. Jimmie Johnson started 20th and worked up to 5th; however, his progress was stunted by a pit-road collision with Marcos Ambrose. Other contenders Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick were done in by a pit road speeding penalty and a flat tire, respectively. Kasey Kahne was then taken out after being forced up into the wall by Kyle Busch, causing a crash that also involved Carl Edwards.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
After the final restart, Keselowski picked up a large piece of debris on his grill and got passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. while trying to pull up behind the slower Danica Patrick to remove the debris. Earnhardt would continue to lead and pick up his first career victory at Pocono. The win was the fourth in a row for Hendrick Motorsports in 2014, and the fourth in a row for Hendrick at Pocono with four different drivers.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jimmie Johnson took the lead with ten laps remaining to take his first win at Michigan International Speedway. This was his first career win at Michigan, after numerous unsuccessful attempts that ended with crashes, engine failures, or running out of fuel. "We had figured out every way to lose this race," Johnson said after winning at Michigan for the first time in 25 tries. "And today we were able to get it done. "We really were in a win-win situation," he added. "Those guys still had to come to pit road to make it to the end. Once I got an idea of how the race was unfolding, I knew we were in the catbird seat and were able to take advantage of it. When it came down to strategy in the end, which we all knew it would at Michigan, Chad nailed the strategy."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Carl Edwards held off a last lap charge from Jeff Gordon to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. “Real tough. That last lap was ugly. I grew up watching Jeff Gordon do well here so to have him in my mirror is special," Edwards said. "This team has been working very hard. The whole group has. It's very special to be a part of something like this.”


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
In what was an absolutely dominating performance from Team Penske, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski combined to lead 236 of the 267 laps and Keselowski led 199 laps to win the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. He described his car as "awesome" and that his crew did a "great job."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Aric Almirola scored his first career victory in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He said he could not "dream" of a better place to get his first win. Kurt Busch was penalized 10 points for a technical infraction following post-race inspection.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Brad Keselowski staved off a green-white-checker charge by Kyle Busch to win. "I think it is definitely good for when we come back here in September but past success doesn't guarantee future success," he said. "We have to keep working and plugging away. I am sure a lot of guys will be stronger and hopefully we will be too."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jeff Gordon scored his record 5th win in the Brickyard 400 after passing Kasey Kahne on a restart with 17 laps to go. The race was dominated by a variety of pit strategies. Kasey Kahne led the most laps in the race with 70 as Hendrick powered cars led 127 of the 160 laps. "Those emotions take over. There's nothing better, especially in a big race, coming to Victory Lane with your family here," said an emotional Gordon. "I was trying so hard with 10 to go not to focus on the crowd.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
I didn't want to think about it too much, but you can't help it." "Looking back, I should have chosen the (outside lane)," Kahne said. "They pretty much let Jeff control that restart. I took off and never spun a tire and the inside had been more grip throughout the race and I started on the inside and I thought it was a great decision. But I didn't spin a tire and Jeff drove right by me before we were even got to the second (restart line)."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Despite having Kevin Harvick filling his rearview mirror, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to maintain the lead to complete the first Pocono sweep since Denny Hamlin did it in 2006. "We definitely went home from the last race and made our car better," Earnhardt Jr. said "That's what I'm proud of this team for. It takes a really, really smart guy to understand what to do to take those gambles. Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don't." "This hasn't been one of my better race tracks and the cars have been fast both races here," Harvick said after finishing runner-up. "Today we were able to capitalize on it and get a good finish." We had a fast car all day. Steve's strategy was perfect at the end. I don't know if anyone knew what was going on there, but it was pretty awesome."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
A. J. Allmendinger held off a hard charging Marcos Ambrose with two laps remaining to score his first career Sprint Cup Series victory. "My gosh, I can't believe we've won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race," Allmendinger said. "With this whole 47 team, [team owners] Tad Geschickter, Jody Geschickter, Brad Daugherty, all the great sponsors we have, our first Cup victory together, my first victory...I love these guys. I just wanted it so bad for them and this team. They work so hard. I wasn't gonna let Marcos take that from me."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
"First of all, congratulations to AJ and the 47 team," Ambrose said. "They deserved that win. I left nothing on the table. I tried to rattle his cage and couldn't shake him. We raced fair and square to the end there. It was a tough couple laps but it was fair. We were both giving it to each other pretty hard. No harm, no foul. We just came up a little short."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jeff Gordon took the lead from Joey Logano on the final restart and sailed to victory lane for the 91st time in his career. Gordon had this to say, "I got a really good restart, and I got to his quarter panel in Turn 1 and I was able to drag him back and it allowed me to get the momentum and get by him." "I had (Gordon) cleared," Logano said. "I should have pulled down in front of him. He got next to me, and I couldn't get away."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Joey Logano took the lead with 45 laps to go and had to hold off a late race charge by Brad Keselowski to score his third win of the 2014 season. "It's awesome," Logano said in Victory Lane. "I've never won more than one race in a season, and now I've won three." "Joey just ran a great race and we were really strong in that midsection and ... we got it back a little bit on that last run," Keselowski said. "Our car was just about equal to Joey's but he just had better track position than on us."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kasey Kahne took the lead on the second Green-White-Checker attempt and held off Matt Kenseth to score his first win of the season. "Yeah, man, it took a lot," said Kahne. "We were all over the place during the race but the guys stayed with me and worked hard. On those restarts – I didn't know what would happen because I had great restarts all night and I struggle with restarts a lot. That's big, because that is one of the things you have to be good at and it worked really well tonight.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Yeah, we are locked in and I hate it comes down to this Atlanta or Richmond just about every year for me," said Kahne. "Sometimes we are in, sometimes we are out. But thankful that now at HMS I have been in all three years now." "Those last two laps were really intense," Kenseth said. "Things are looking up. I'm looking forward to the next 11." "I couldn't capitalize, couldn't get the restarts and couldn't accelerate," Denny Hamlin said. "We just came up short. Third is about the place car we had tonight."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Brad Keselowski led 383 laps on his way to his fourth win of the season. "What a night," said Keselowski. "Part of me, I pulled into victory lane and I pinched myself once to make sure I wasn't dreaming. These are nights you don't forget as a driver and you live for. The Miller Lite Ford Fusion was just flying, and this is I'm couldn't ask for a better way to enter the Chase than to win and take the first seed. We're ready. We want to run for another Cup. We really feel like this team has it." "You know, it's definitely frustrating not making that Chase, but like I said, when you do make the Chase, you want it to be for a championship, not just ride around in it," said a disappointed Clint Bowyer.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
The Chase-Opening race at Chicagoland Speedway started with qualifying being rained-out and Kyle Busch starting on Pole for being the fastest in first practice, and Chase Seed #1 Brad Keselowski wound up starting 25th for the 267 lap event. Busch led 46 laps early on, but the race saw comers and goers as it saw only a few cautions for the first 3/4 of the event. Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick (who led a race-high 79 laps) took turns at the front over the course of 100 laps of green.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Keselowski and Harvick both suffered loose wheels and had to start at the tail-end of the lead lap. Chase driver Aric Almirola was leading on series of green flag pit stops with 37 to go when his engine blew and was forced to retire. Rookie Kyle Larson wound up taking the lead in the late going with a superior machine, battling Harvick, Gordon, and Keselowski in the late going with Keselowski making a three-wide move in between Larson and Harvick, taking the lead for good.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
With 10 laps to go, the final caution came out after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick got together in Turn 4. On the final restart, Keselowski got away easy, Harvick fell to 5th, and Keselowski the #1 seed scored his 5th win of the season and second at Chicagoland. Gordon beat Larson for 2nd, and Joey Logano blew up out of Turn 4, but streaked across the finish line up in smoke to finish 4th. “I don’t really know what happened," Keselowski said. "I just know we got to the lead. I saw Kyle and Kevin racing each other really hard, they were aggressively side drafting and I was waiting for an opportunity to strike and it came. The car stuck and everything came together."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Joey Logano took off on the first Green-White-Checker attempt to score his fourth victory of the season. “It feels good to go into the next one,” Logano said. “We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing though. We’ve got to keep our eye on the prize and think about the big trophy at the end.”


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kevin Harvick started on pole and dominated most of the first half of the race. Cautions flew for debris on lap 62, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brushing the wall on lap 75, and debris again on lap 125. Brad Keselowski took the lead from Harvick on lap 148. After a caution for J.J. Yeley scraping the wall on lap 171, Harvick regained the lead. After a round of green flag pit stops, Harvick cut a tire and brought out the caution on lap 254. Keselowski took over the race lead. Jeff Gordon took the lead from Keselowski on lap 305 and continued on for the win, the 92nd of his career. Following this race, A. J. Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, and Aric Almirola were eliminated from the Chase.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
On the final restart with 28 laps to go, Ryan Newman lost the lead to Joey Logano and he held off a hard-charging Kyle Larson to score his fifth win of the season. “It was a crazy race, and I had such a fast Pennzoil Ford," said Logano. "It is awesome to be back in victory lane. When the top opened up, the car just took off. Me and the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) were the only ones that seemed to be able to run up there. We had a cat and mouse (with Larson) during portions of the late run. I just had to be able to work the traffic and keep my momentum up. We just have to keep capitalizing going forward.”


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kevin Harvick shot ahead of Jeff Gordon on the final restart with two laps remaining to win the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Oh, we came here and tested thinking that this was going to be the hardest round to get through because of Talladega,” Harvick said. “There’s so much that you can’t control there. We wanted to try to control the things that we could control. We felt like Kansas and here (Charlotte) were playing to our strengths; and just see where it fell after that once we get to the next round.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
So I’m really proud of everybody at SHR. I’m really proud of all my guys on this team. I just can’t thank everybody enough.” "I'm really proud of that finish, really proud of that effort," Gordon said. " ... Kevin was tough. I knew he was going to be tough once he got out there."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Brad Keselowski held off hard-charging Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth to win the GEICO 500. “I can’t believe it,” Keselowski said. “Talladega is such a wild card and to be able to win here you have to catch breaks and make your own breaks, a little of both. I can’t believe we won at Talladega. This race is the scariest of the three in the bracket. To be able to win here is really a privilege, it really is.” Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson were the four drivers who were eliminated. "We had a real good car most of the day," Earnhardt said. "Got real loose, kind of shuffled out. ... It's just hard racing. That's the way it goes at the end of these races. We weren't in good position."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Tony Stewart with four laps to go and held off a hard charging Jeff Gordon to score his first career win at Martinsville Speedway. “Oh, man, been trying to win here for so many years,” Earnhardt said. “Real emotional win. I can’t believe we won here. We’re going to drink a lot of beer tonight. It’s a real emotional win. This team on pit road was great and Steve (Letarte, crew chief) and the guys did a real good job all day.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
They gave me a great shot at it there with the call at the end to take tires. I can’t believe we won here. This means so much to all of us. It’s just real emotional.” "That means so much to Hendrick Motorsports," Gordon said. "That's the best way you can possibly pay tribute to those that we lost 10 years ago. To have a 1-2 finish, that's pretty awesome. I would have loved to have gotten that win to move on to Homestead, but this is certainly a great start for us."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
"I thought we had the car to beat," Gordon said. "Those last couple of laps were just wild. This means so much to Hendrick Motorsports. It's the best way to pay tribute to everyone we lost 10 years ago. I would have loved to get that win to move on to Homestead. But I'm real happy for Dale. I know this means so much to him."


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jimmie Johnson held off Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to score his 70th career win. “It’s a testament to this team and the fact that we’ll never give up,” said Johnson. “We’ll always keep fighting and keep trying to make our cars better. We’re not in the Chase and not where we want to be - fighting for the championship.”


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
There was a brawl on pit road involving Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Keselowski and Harvick were parked in the post-race impound area where the cars that finished second through sixth are held for post-race inspection. Gordon pulled his car and parked it right beside Brad's car. He got out and had a level-headed conversation with the driver of the No. 2 Ford that seemed to make him more angry. As Keselowski was putting on his Miller Lite cap, Kevin proceeded to shove him towards Gordon and all hell broke loose.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Multiple pit crews from the three racing stables as well as Paul Menard's crew were involved (Keselowski's spot in the impound area was in the pit stall of the No. 27 car). ESPN's Jamie Little was caught in the middle of it. “We’re racing for the win,” said Keselowski of the on track contact. “[Wasn't trying] to wreck him, just racing hard. He left a hole and you know, everything you watch in racing, you leave a hole, you’re supposed to go for it. It closed back up and we made contact. I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
I want to win the race and that was our opportunity. Just didn’t come together.” “I spun the tires a little bit but I got a pretty decent start and we went down into one and I just wanted to get to the outside of the 48 [Johnson] and out of nowhere, I got slammed by the 2 and it cut my left rear tire. He's just a dipshit," Gordon said in a nationally televised interview on ESPN. "I don't know how he's ever won a championship. I'm just sick and tired of him. ...


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
That was a huge race for us. I'm proud of Jimmie Johnson for winning that race. I didn't want that you-know-what (Keselowski) to win that race. ... (Keselowski) gets himself in this position himself and as far as I'm concerned he's got to pay the consequences. … It's total crap. The kid is just doing stuff way over his head." “I'm not trying to sit here and sugarcoat it and try to be The Intimidator,’’ Keselowski said. “That's not what I'm trying to say. My expectation is if there's a gap, they'll go for it.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
If there's a gap, I'll go for it. If it closes up, there's contact, then that's racing. And that's what happened today. Will those guys race me hard or harder than others? Absolutely, I'm certain they will. But that's just part of it. I can't fault them for that. I just feel like I have to go for the gap if it's there, and I have to race the way I race or I won't even be in NASCAR. I'd rather have enemies in NASCAR than have friends and be sitting at home.’’


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
“If you’re going to drive like that, you better be willing to fight,’’ Harvick said he told Keselowski. “He was going to stand behind his guys. Jeff Gordon deserved to at least have a face-to-face conversation with him. I wasn’t standing up for anybody. (Keselowski) just ran over (Gordon). He was standing back behind all his guys, not wanting to defend what he did. I said, ‘You’re the problem, get in your own fight.’ ‘’ Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, said that series officials will review what took place to determine what, if any, penalties will be issued. “Holding onto each other and grabbing… that's one thing. When punches are landed, it's a different scenario," Pemberton said.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Kevin Harvick dominated the race to score the victory. "Wow. I guess that's what it feels like to hit a walkoff in extra innings. I mean this thing -- both races here -- has been bad to the bone," Harvick said after winning his fourth race at this 1-mile oval in the last five tries. Harvick would not have made the final four to race for the title without a win. I could tell that we were going to have to win because everybody was running in the front of the pack that we were racing against.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
I think this says a lot about our team. We had our backs against the wall. We're in victory lane and we get to go on." In the final turn, Ryan Newman sent Kyle Larson into the wall to secure his place in the championship race. “I just gave it my all,” Newman said. “I wasn’t proud of it but did what I had to get to this next round. That little boy has got a lot of things coming in this sport and he used me up like that in a truck at Eldora a couple years ago.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
From my standpoint, I call it even but I think if he was in my position, he’d have done the same thing.” "Coming to the finish, there were a lot of cars racing really hard,” said Larson today. “I knew (Newman) was right around me and knew he needed to gain some spots to keep from getting eliminated from the Chase. It's a little upsetting he pushed me up to the wall, but I completely understand the situation he was in,” said Larson, “(I) can't fault him for being aggressive there.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
I think a lot of drivers out here would have done something similar if they were in that position." Kevin Harvick (with the much-needed win), Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Newman were the four drivers who will race for the championship, which also meant that NASCAR will be having a new Sprint Cup Series champion. Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth were the four drivers eliminated.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
Jeff Gordon won the pole for the race and dominated. Kevin Harvick took the lead from Denny Hamlin with 8 laps to go, but a late caution forced the race to have a 3 lap shootout. Harvick and Ryan Newman, who were the top of the 4 championship contenders, restarted on the front row. Harvick held off Newman to score his fifth win of the season and take the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup title. “I was just holding the pedal down and hoping for the best,’’ Harvick said. "This new format has been so stressful.


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Season summary, Race reports
I’m going to go sleep for a week." We didn't have quite enough,” Newman said. “That's disappointing, but like I said, it was an awesome team effort, and I think, again, this is a great racetrack to have a race like this, and I thought there was some amazing passing, and we don't get that at every racetrack.”


2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or owner's points. * – Most laps led. . – Eliminated after Challenger Round. – Eliminated after Contender Round. – Eliminated after Eliminator Round


2014 NASCAR Toyota Series
The 2014 NASCAR Toyota Series was the eighth season of the NASCAR Toyota Series, and the eleventh season organized by NASCAR Mexico. It began with the Toyota 120 at Phoenix International Raceway on February 28, and ended with the Puebla 240 at Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, on November 9. Rodrigo Peralta entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion.


2014 NASCAR Toyota Series
Abraham Calderón won his first series championship at Puebla, finishing nine points ahead of Rubén García Jr.; both drivers failed to win any races during the season, but were able to finish strongly in the five-race Desafío, which concluded the season. Calderón achieved eleven top-ten finishes, while Garcia Jr. took ten top-ten finishes. Rubén Rovelo finished third in the championship, eleven points in arrears of Calderón, winning races at Aguascalientes and Tuxtla Gutiérrez.


2014 NASCAR Toyota Series
Six other drivers won races during the season, including Daniel Suárez, who won a total of five races including three of the first four races. A pair of finishes outside the top 20 in the Desafío saw Suárez finish in 6th in the championship. Irwin Vences, who made the Desafío despite missing the first four races of the season, won two races as well, winning the first Puebla race and the second San Luis Potosí event. Rubén Pardo (the first event at Querétaro and Chihuahua) and Homero Richards (the second Querétaro event, and the season-ending Puebla event) each won two races, while Luis Felipe Montaño – at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez – and Rogelio López, at the first San Luis Potosí race, each took one win.


2014 NASCAR Toyota Series, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)


2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
The 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series was the sixth Racecar Euro Series season, and the second under the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series branding. The season consisted of six meetings – with two races at each meeting – starting on 12 April at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, and ending on 12 October at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans.


2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
The Elite division title went down to the final race of the season, and was ultimately decided in favour of PK Carsport driver Anthony Kumpen, by just a single point. Kumpen only won one race during the season, coming at the final race weekend, but with top-ten finishes in each of the season's races, it allowed him to just fend off the defending champion Ander Vilariño of TFT Racing.


2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
Vilariño won the most races during the season with four and took the most podium finishes with nine, but lost the title due to the series' double points system that was in effect for the final two events of the season. Third place in the championship went to CAAL Racing's Eddie Cheever III, who took three wins during the season. A total of seven drivers won races in the division during the season, which set a new series record. Aside from the top trio in the championship, Yann Zimmer won at Valencia, Borja García and Frédéric Gabillon both won at the Nürburgring, while Mathias Lauda won a race at Tours Speedway, the series' first race to be held in wet conditions at an oval.