All posts by David Morgan

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Day two at the new Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course has been just as eventful as the first, with Jimmie Johnson putting up the fastest time on the board, while others found themselves ensnared by the 17-turn, 2.28-mile layout. Daniel Hemric led the way for the majority of the session before Johnson took over the No. 1 spot with a lap of 1 minute, 18.043 seconds at 105.173 mph. Hemric finished the session in second place, followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Denny Hamlin already had his work cut out for him heading into the inaugural Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but after the first day on the 2.28-mile, 17-turn road course, he and the No. 11 team have a challenging road ahead if they are to transfer on to the next round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. After two poor performances in the first two races of the postseason, Hamlin enters Charlotte with a 28-point deficit toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – Following two optional test sessions on Thursday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series got their first official crack at the new Charlotte Motor Speedway road course with a pair of practices on Friday afternoon. The results from Friday closely mirrored those from Thursday as Austin Cindric was fast again, putting up the quickest lap time in the first practice session with a lap of 1 minute, 18.443 seconds at 104.636 mph. He was followed by Daniel Hemric, Alex Labbe, Ryan Preece, and Justin Allgaier toRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – After making his presence known every step up the NASCAR ladder, Daniel Hemric is finally getting his shot at the big time as Richard Childress Racing officially announced him as the new driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet starting in 2019. “So many people want to have this opportunity and they work their whole lives for it,” said Hemric. “Going through this process, everybody who’s followed my career from racing the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout at Charlotte to super late models, whatever it was,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor CONCORD, N.C. – After turning heads in the Xfinity Series over the last couple of years, Ryan Preece’s bet on himself has paid off as he will be headed to a full-time ride in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019. Less than a week after JTG Daugherty Racing announced that they would be releasing AJ Allmendinger from his contract at season’s end, the team made it official on Friday that Preece would be taking over the seat of the No. 47 Chevrolet starting nextRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor There are numerous adjectives that can be used to describe this weekend’s race on the new Charlotte Motor Speedway road course: unpredictable, volatile, treacherous, chaotic, etc. Once thing is for sure as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ventures into the unknown, it’s going to be a hell of a ride. In an effort to spice things up this season, Charlotte officials elected to switch from running another race on the 1.5-mile oval to creating what they are calling the ROVAL, incorporating both the high banksRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After five years with JTG Daugherty Racing, AJ Allmendinger will be leaving the seat of the No. 47 car at the end of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Though Allmendinger inked a five-year contract extension back in 2015 that would have kept him behind the wheel through 2020, the team announced Tuesday that they would be releasing him from his contract. “AJ Allmendinger has been a valuable asset to the growth of our company, and we are grateful for his professionalism with ourRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Ever since Elliott Sadler announced he would be stepping away from full-time driving at the end of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the rumor mill has been churning with his replacement at JR Motorsports for 2019 and beyond. Today that question has been answered. In an episode of its popular JRM360 video series, the team announced that Noah Gragson would be taking the step up to the Xfinity Series next year to take the reins of the No. 1 car that Sadler is departing. “Noah’s provenRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor “I just want to have fun,” Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said before Friday night’s race at Richmond Raceway. After the checkered flag flew in the Go Bowling 250, it was mission accomplished in his return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he brought home a fourth-place finish after leading the most laps. Even after being out of the race car since the end of last season, when he said goodbye to full-time racing, Earnhardt picked up right where he left off as soon as the racing actionRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Following a wild opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in Las Vegas, the championship contenders head back to the East Coast this weekend to take on Richmond Raceway in their inaugural playoff date. Often described as the perfectly designed racetrack by drivers, the 0.75-mile track lends itself to not only short track characteristics of beating and banging, but also the characteristics of a larger track with the side-by-side racing that will take place throughout the event. Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400,Read More